Don't Plan Ahead
by frumpyrox
Summary: Not As Planned sequel. Sasusaku AU She opened her eyes and stared into his playful ones.“Sasuke, please.” She whispered. “You're just gonna have to deal with me like I am.” He teased. “There's always room for improvement, you know."
1. Can we keep him?

**Welcome back, old and new. This is the sequel to Not As Planned, an unexpected hit, I must say. If you have just randomly clicked this fic, I advise you either a) go read Not As Planned or b) be a total loser and simply hit the back button and find another fic that will be a total waste of your time since it isn't mine. Yes, I went there. And back. **

**Be sure to read the a/n at the end for info on future updates and such. I'll keep my babbling to a minimum. You're welcome.**

**Oh, and a big thank you to theblackroseofkonoha for beta-ing this chapter for me. I know, I know. Skipping words in sentences is sloppy. I'm typing slower now..**

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Can we keep him?

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- & -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

The sun reflected off of the crinkled aluminum, a splatter of mustard tainting it. The young man holding it coaxed the hot dog further out from the shiny paper and took a hearty bite. Beside him, his best friend and virtual opposite did the same. Well, minus the mustard. He was more of a ketchup guy, the blond.

"Seriously, man. I can't thank you enough for this." Bits of meaty debris flew from his mouth as they crossed the street.

"How many times are you gonna say that? I got that so you'd stuff your mouth and shut up already." Sasuke sighed and took another chunk out of the sausage.

"Sasuke, you really did save my ass, though." Naruto reminded him as they weaved through the bustling crowds of New Yorkers.

"What'd you expect me to do? Just leave my best friend with that stuck up asshole of a boss?"

"Aw! I'm your best friend?" His eyes suddenly became gigantic and glittery.

"Naruto..." He shook his head and tossed the remaining wrapper in a trash can, his 'best friend' doing the same.

"Anyways, I'm still not sure if I wanna go back to California." They crossed another street, the blaring of horns emitting from the motionless cars around them.

"Why not?" He already knew why, though.

"It was great growing up there, but there's more in this world than just a familiar place." That Hinata girl, of course.

"Sure." He shrugged, a smirk in place.

"You're such a prick, you know that?"

"You're not exactly my favorite ray of sunshine, either." Naruto laughed loudly and shoved him.

"So what's Sakura up to?"

"School." He said offhandedly.

"Hmm, so you're into the whole kinky schoolgirl thing now. Niiice…." He commented and was given a whack to the head.

"You know, Hinata goes to school with her, too."

"Exactly."

"And I'm the pervert?" They stopped in front of a huge building and waited by the steps.

"Finally, you're understanding how things work. Good job!"

"Idiot..."

A bell rang and soon a wave of teenagers in white shirts, navy blue ties, jackets, skirts and expensive shoes cluttered the street. When the tsunami of bodies had passed, a stream of the remaining came out. Four of which were extremely familiar.

"What the-" Tenten muttered.

"Uchiha, what brings you here?" The older Hyuuga greeted, his fingers laced together with the muttering girl's.

"Nothing much, just decided to say hello to Ms. Haruno." He replied just as smoothly.

"Naruto..!" Hinata gasped from next to Ino.

"Hinataaa!!" Naruto ran up the steps and enveloped the shy girl in a monster bear hug.

"How do you know each other?" Neji asked; his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"We met in Italy! Right, Hinata?" Naruto chirped, letting go to hold her by the hand.

"Mhm." She nodded, her face red.

"I see.." Neji muttered, still not too happy about it.

Sakura walked down the steps with Ino and hugged Sasuke. He smirked down at her after kissing the top of her head. Ino, who was smiling at the pair, suddenly got a phone call and stood off to the side to answer it.

"Sasuke, how'd Naruto get here?" She asked, blushing when he wrapped his finger in her hair.

"When a man and woman love each other very much-"

"Sasuke!"

"-or are very drunk-"

"Ugh! Stop!" She covered her ears.

"Fine, fine. He's moving in with me in my loft. Damn Lawrence was being an ass, so I told him to stay with me. He's gonna apply for some jobs around here tomorrow."

He looked up and watched as the four on the stairs came down towards them. He turned and saw that Ino was finishing up her phone call.

"Ohmigod! Guess what!?" Ino yelled.

"What?" They all responded in the most cliché way possible.

"Temari and Shikamaru broke up!" She squealed, jumping excitedly in her painfully high heels.

"And?" Tenten questioned, not really understanding what the big deal was.

"Ugh, Shikamaru is single again. Duh." Ino rolled her eyes, but was still smiling.

"Of course…." Neji sighed.

"I need to get going, guys. Just fill me in later, Ino." Sakura waved them off and turned to go home.

"Naruto, you have the extra key, right?" Sasuke asked his friend.

"Yep, right around my neck in my shirt!" He confirmed.

Sasuke nodded and walked after Sakura.

"What are you doing?" She asked him as he fell into step next to her.

"Going home with you." He shrugged.

"Sasuke, my dad will get suspicious if he sees his new investment of an artist hanging with his daughter." She pointed out.

"You worry too much, babe." He grinned.

"Seriously. You can't come home with me." She glared at him, but they both knew it didn't really mean much.

"Actually, I have to." They turned the corner and were walking past a construction site.

"What do you mean?" She slowed down with her hands propped on her hips.

"Your dad wants to redo a few of your guest rooms, so he's using my art to do it." He smirked, drinking in her confusion.

"Oh..kay.." She continued walking then, him close behind.

"Remember when I kinda kidnapped you when we first met?" He asked her.

"Yeah, you pulled me down a bunch of alleys." She smiled to herself.

"And I held you like this, right?" He pulled her into his side and wrapped his arm around her.

She blushed and giggled. "Exactly."

They reached the end of an old apartment building and Sasuke swiftly pulled her around the corner of it and gently but firmly pressed her against the brick wall. His body was holding her in place, almost holding her up. One hand gripped her upper arm while the back of the other caressed her cheek. His face lowered itself toward hers, almost as if magnetized. She closed her eyes as the sound of her heart banging in her ribs echoed in her head. His nose tickled hers and his lips were so close and she could feel it and- her phone rang. Loudly. He pulled back, exhaling through his nose. He ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his rings as she muttered a quiet apology. Green eyes and porcelain skin glowed against the screen of her purple Sidekick. It was her dad calling.

"Hi, Daddy." She greeted. A pause. "I'm coming, sorry. Bye."

"I guess we should get going." He was already walking out to the sidewalk again.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. He's just very protective, I guess. Trust me, I'm not all that excited about it either." He shrugged.

She held his hand and kissed the yellow rolled up sleeve on his arm. He squeezed her hand reassuringly and didn't let go. Another block down and he pulled a cigarette from the carton in his pocket. Holding it between his lips, he lit it with a small red lighter.

"Sasuke! That's so gross!" She yelled, reaching for the stick of lung cancer.

"But so good." He smirked, knowing it was pissing her off. He held the cigarette out of her reach as they continued to walk. Eventually, she gave up.

"You know I hate it when you smoke..." She muttered.

"And your dad would hate me if I was distracted by a nicotine craving." He blew out a long wisp of smoke.

"Whatever."

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Well, hello there! Come on in!" The most recent Mrs. Haruno greeted the two.

"Thank you." Sasuke smiled politely. "Nice place," He whispered to Sakura. "Definitely the biggest penthouse I've seen."

"Four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, kitchen, living room, balcony, giant walk-in closets," She dropped her bag against the wall in one of the short hallways. "It's home."

"Sakura, you're home! Ah, I see Sasuke caught up with you along the way. Good. I never really was too comfortable with you walking home alone." Her dad chuckled, straightening his tie.

"How was your day, Daddy?" Sakura asked sweetly.

"Very busy, actually. That reminds me, I'm just about to go into an important conference meeting, so..." He looked over at Sasuke. "We can discuss the redecorating over dinner. I hope you don't mind, Sasuke."

"Not a problem." He nodded.

"Great," The phone rang from his small office. "There's the call. Sakura, please give Sasuke a tour. Dinner's in an hour!" He shouted, jogging to answer the phone.

"Wow. I'm surprised he didn't say anything about you staying as far away from me as possible." Sakura picked up her previously abandoned bag.

"He doesn't view me as a suitor of yours, just a worker." She led him down the hall to her room. "No tour?"

"Later. I need to work on my homework. Big project." She closed the door behind them and quickly sat down at her desk to start up her Mac.

He stood there for a minute soaking it all in. The bright green walls, brown and pink pillows, sheets and rug... He grinned at the giant stuffed lion on the bed with the pink cheeks. He kicked his brown suede boots off at the door and looked out her window. The view was breath-taking, he had to admit.

"Sasuke, I can't believe this never came up in conversation before, but... how old are you?" She asked, momentarily not typing.

"Seventeen and a half." He sat down on her bed and opened up his old leather messenger bag.

"And a half?"

"I take pride in my age." He pulled out a black sketch book and pen.

"Wait... So why aren't you in school?" She spun around in her chair to face him.

"I dropped out as soon as I could legally." His hand moved in quick, fluent strokes across the page.

"_Sixteen?_" She gasped.

"Yep. How old are _you_?" He looked up.

"Sixteen..." She mumbled, still in shock that he dropped out.

But it truly wasn't that shocking. Seriously, he didn't look too much older. Maybe he could pass for twenty, but not much more. She just really didn't want to admit to herself that he was a drop out.

"I assumed you were about that." He continued drawing.

She quietly turned back around, having nothing else to say. She turned back to her project on the computer and finished up the essay part. Next was her calculus homework... Joy. She flipped open the heavy textbook and read the lesson over to herself.

Sakura was far from stupid, she always took advanced courses. In seventh grade, she skipped to Algebra 1. In eighth, she took Geometry. Ninth grade was Algebra 2, tenth she had pre-calculus and now in eleventh, she had calculus. How she hated it so.

"Urgh!" She groaned pressing her forehead to the confusing text.

Sasuke looked up from his sketch to watch the frustrated girl slump over her desk. He got up and slipped the book from under her, careful not to make her smack her head on the wood.

"Which problem?" He asked.

"Number seven…." Her muffled voice leaked from her arm.

"Easy." He grabbed her paper and started writing out formulas, explaining every step to her until she got the answer on her own. When she finished the problem, her mouth fell open.

"I thought you dropped out." She turned to him.

"That doesn't mean I'm an idiot, Sakura." He smirked.

"So...wait, how do you know all this? Why did you drop out?" He sighed and sat down on her bed.

"I left because I wanted to focus on my art. My parents were completely against it. They wanted me to be a stock broker or a lawyer. I can't _stand _offices," He picked at the frizzy threads on his knee. "They're so boring and cramped up. Itachi was moving to Italy to be with his boyfriend and told me he could take me if I wanted. He's twenty-three now, I think. So as soon as my birthday, I left with him. Since then, I've been keeping up with my studies and doing as I please. See where it's gotten me? No complaints."

"Wow…." She propped her cheek in her palm and just stared at him.

"Sakura, Bono is preparing filet mignon and strawberry poppy seed salad. Is that alright with you, Sasuke?" Mr. Haruno's current trophy wife asked, popping up by the door.

"Bono?" Sasuke asked.

"Our chef. Not the famous singer guy." Sakura explained.

"Oh, sounds great." Sasuke smiled. Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Good." And with that, she disappeared.

"Pft, at least _she's _aware of the fact that we're two teens in a bedroom." She laughed.

"Uh, explanation, please." Sasuke deadpanned.

"She's always trying to get me in trouble to seem even more...I don't know...she just wants my dad to adore her. Somehow, me being a slut or doing drugs will help her out."

"I could be her best friend, then." He was only joking, but the sick glare he was receiving shut him up.

"You know I didn't mean it." He told her, looking her straight in the eye.

"I don't care. It wasn't funny and you know it."

"Let's not fight, okay?" He pleaded, giving her a lopsided grin that would definitely melt her down.

As expected, her rigid posture relaxed, the redness of her cheeks paled and her eyes softened. A faint sigh left her lips. He got up and padded his way across the dark hard wood flooring and stopped in front of her. He got down on his knees and pulled her into a tight embrace. With a few deep breathes, she was able to stop herself from crying. When he pulled back, she smiled and he brushed back a few stray hairs from her face. He leaned forward, her doing the same. Slowly, they both shut their eyes and then it happened.

"Dinner!" Her father called from the table.

They both sighed in defeat. Sasuke kissed her cheek and went to put on his boots. She groaned in annoyance. So close, too!

.-.-.-.-.-.

"This is one amazing dinner, Mr. Haruno. Thank you." Sasuke complimented, finishing up his meat.

"You're welcome. We appreciate you helping us redecorate the guest rooms." Mr. Haruno chuckled. "Alright, let's see what you have to show us."

The maid came around and picked up all their plates as Sasuke pulled out his large and filled sketch book. He flipped it open to the section of a bunch of small sketches with color palettes around them. He had prepared them perfectly. Sakura looked on, as well. But it was mainly the wife of the millionaire that was making the calls. Mr. Haruno was doing this just she'd feel involved.

"Oh, wow! That's so pretty!" The fake blonde cooed when she laid eyes on a colorful sketch of woman's silhouette.

"We'll use this one. Pick three more, dear."

.-.-.-.-.-.

An Hour Later...

"Same time tomorrow, then?" Sasuke wanted to confirm.

"Precisely." Mr. Haruno agreed.

"Daddy?" Sakura called.

"Yes?"

"Is Sasuke just gonna be doing art?" She asked.

"Of course. That's what we hired him to do."

"Well, I mean, he's about my age, you know. But he isn't a student."

"You didn't receive your GED even?" Mr. Haruno asked in surprise.

Sasuke sighed. "No, sir."

"Well, as a parent, I must advise that you do something about that. Not too many people will approve of such a thing. High class citizens don't think much of drop outs, Sasuke."

His stern tone basically translated his words to 'Go to school or you're screwed.'

L O U D and c l e a r.

_Thanks, Sakura._

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**So you actually decided to read this..? Awesome. Okay, so here's the deal. Whether or not you want to write a review is up to you. Anonymous or not, whatever. But I need you to just send ONE WORD, a number actually. I prefer a review with it, but I really need this number.**

**Pick a number 10 thru 15 and send it in your review. Yes, you can choose either 10 or 15, they're included in the choices-.-; THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!! **

**Thanks again for sticking with me! I think this'll be a fun fic;**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	2. Well, hello! Bad time?

**Surprise! Early update!**

**Three words. Tropical Storm Fay. God! Okay, it's not like I was looking forward to school or anything, but I was prepared! But nooo!! Stupid storm made the counties close schools and then I was all, "NO WAY! Grr.." and theennn had a bajillion and four text messages from people saying school was or wasn't cancelled, hoping a sucker would end up going in the storm so yeeaaah..**

**Now, I know many of you were uh, very curious as to what the hell the number thing was for. Some said it was a rating system, others thought it was for how many chapters there'd be, and I think someone thought it HAD to be my age.. Wtf? So here it is: THE RESULTS.. The number chosen the most waaaaassss... fourteen. **

**The PURPOSE of it was to decide how frequently I'd update. So, every two weeks (fourteen days, smarticle) I'll post a new chapter. This might be possible.. Check out my profile and scroll to my Morning Routine section to understand why this might be a struggle. Yeah.**

**Also, big message at bottom.**

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"There's definitely a connection." Ino told her pink-headed friend in a confident tone.

"He passed you your test." Sakura replied dryly.

"Yeah," the blonde hesitated, "but you should've seen the way he did it! He is _so _into me."

"Ino, I swear. You are-"

"SAKURAAA!! HIIII!!"

"What the f-"

Next thing the Haruno girl knew, she was being tackled and squeezed to near death. She couldn't breathe and still was clueless as to who was crushing her in their arms. Finally she was released. She gasped for air, her face regaining its proper color.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing here?" Ino asked, pissed that their conversation had been interrupted.

"I'm enrolled!" He pumped a fist to further express his enthusiasm.

"…Great…." The other blonde didn't even make an attempt to hide her unhappiness.

"So where's Hinata?" He asked, scanning the crowd for the girl.

"We were going to see her by her locker." Sakura told him, still trying to put it all together in her head.

"Okay, cool. I'll follow you guys." He shoved his hands in his pockets and flashed his foxy grin. Cue random girls swooning.

"Wait," Sakura began as they started walking, "if you're here, does that mean Sasuke is with you?"

"Nope! He's busy painting some masterpiece or whatever. I got a part-time job as a waiter down at some diner and," he rolled his eyes, "am helping to pay the bills. I wanna graduate so I can get a better paying job and go to a community college or something." He shrugged.

"Thanks for the unnecessary update. So Sasuke isn't coming to school?" Sakura asked, frowning.

"Dunno. He said your dad nailed him about that yesterday and I'm pretty sure he's gonna do it online. I prefer the social scene. He's too busy being all artistic and deep to leave the loft during the day. Hinata!" He quickly latched onto the Hyuuga, effectively startling her.

"N-Naruto?" She really couldn't breathe and yes, he did notice this. Come now, he's not an _idiot. _Pssh.

"I'm a student now! Isn't that awesome?" He smiled brightly and she blushed at a similar magnitude.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yep!" He held her close as other students quickly spread word of this obvious connection between the Hyuuga heiress and the new kid.

The bell suddenly sounded, causing the masses to scatter to their first classes.

"I'm off to..." He looked down at his schedule, "...science..." He groaned.

"It's not all that bad. We'll meet up at lunch, 'kay?" Sakura confirmed.

"Sounds like a plan. See ya!" Naruto saluted them and headed off into the crowd.

"I'm dreaming, right?" Hinata mumbled.

"Nope!" Sakura giggled.

"Darling, this is as real as it gets." Ino lead them along.

"Lunch time yet?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"And then I shook the geezer's hand and BAM! I was employed." He leaned back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest once he concluded his story. The rest of the table really had been absorbed in his story.

"Done yet?" Sakura asked, her face slumped over her arm on the table.

So absorbed. Like rocks into a sponge.

"Pretty much."

"Great, 'cause lunch is over." Tenten sighed. Neji nodded his head, unable to believe a person could talk so long without a single break. About nothing.

"Come, we don't want to be late." He told his girlfriend, pulling her hand gently.

"Wait!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura, Neji, Tenten, Ino and Hinata (she had been by his side already) stopped and turned to him. They were at a good enough distance that they could bolt if he started into another story.

"You guys should come to this party Friday. Sasuke and I are going, it's gonna be pretty sick. I heard some people in my last class talking about it, too. This guy, uh, Shikamaru or something and I were talking about how awesome it'll be."

"Shika's going?" Ino mumbled, a sly grin creeping to her lips. "I'm in." With that, she walked off to class.

"I'll go, too. Where's it gonna be?" Sakura asked.

"Grey Pine Street, big house in the suburbs. It'll be the one with the pounding music." He snickered excitedly.

"Alright. Hinata, you going?" Sakura looked to her friend next to Naruto.

"I think so. Neji, Father will definitely let me go if you go." She looked to her cousin expectantly.

"He and I are going!" Tenten chirped, hugging her sighing boyfriend's arm.

"Excelleeent, dudes! See ya there!" Naruto hollered and they all went off to class. Hinata was the last to go. "Hey, Hinata?"

"Hm?" She turned to him.

"Can I walk you to your class?"

"Won't you be late?"

He shrugged. "I'll just say I got lost."

"S-sure, I guess." She blushed as they entered back into the hallway.

"So, Hinata. Where are _we_? Like, what are we?" He asked, trying to sound semi-casual.

"I-I really don't know, actually." She bit her lip nervously.

"Oh. Then, uh, would you like to go out with me? You know, be my girlfriend?" He turned towards her as they stopped by her classroom.

"Your...g-girlfriend?" Her blush covered her whole face and seeped down her neck.

"Do you want to?" He watched her carefully, towering over her small frame yet so nervous inside.

"I would like that." She half-squeaked.

"YES!" He cheered, drawing attention to them.

He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her fully on the lips. His arms wrapped her into a quick hug as the crowd continued to watch. He let her go and skipped to his own class. Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz would've been jealous. Yeah, that whole "Follow The Yellow Brick Road" crap was nothing compared to this.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Anyone else still have their essays?" Iruka called out, scanning the rows of students for a raised paper or hand. "Good. Now, let me take attendance and-"

"What's up, teacher guy?" Naruto greeted casually as he burst through the door.

"...Who are you?" He asked, thrown off a bit.

"New student, Naruto Uzumaki!" He stood straight with his arms at his side before giving a military salute.

"I see... Why are you late?" He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the junior suspiciously.

"I got lost. I'm not really used to big schools like this." He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, let's not waste anymore time. Have a seat next to..." He looked around for an open desk. "Ah, there. Right next to Sakura Haruno. Raise your hand, please."

Reluctantly, the girl raised her hand a bit. She liked Naruto, he was pretty cool. But in her class..? She had zero tolerance for distractions. If he said but a word to her to throw her out of concentration she'd kill him. Even though Hinata was like a sister to her and she'd never do a thing to hurt her, this would be the exception. It wouldn't be intentional, so it wouldn't count anyways.

"Hey, Sakura! How cool is this? We're in the same class!"

She pointedly faced forward and ignored him. She could feel him still staring at her, though. Obviously he didn't get it. Kids these days...

"Naruto, I really don't like being distracted in class, so please...?" Her words were quick but clear.

He nodded in understanding and gave her the thumbs up. Minutes later, a ripped off corner of a paper was slid onto her desk. Scratchy words were scribbled on it.

**Guess what?**

_What?_

**I asked Hinata to be my gf!! She said YES!**

_Great. Now stop. I'm attempting to learn._

**Fine, fine. Party pooper.**

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Sakura's foot pressed into the brakes as the car crept up in front of the two-story house at the end of the neighborhood street. Just like Naruto had said, it was the house with the pounding music. A variety of colorful lights flashed through the windows and muffled techno music echoed all the way to the street. A few recognizable faces could be seen strolling around the lawn as well as numerous strangers.

Next to her, Hinata checked her purse for her phone and whatever else she brought along. Sakura parked down a few houses and smiled at her friend before they got out. She clicked the little lock button on the Mercedes car key before locking arms with Hinata.

"Love the green dress, by the way." She complimented.

"Thank you. That red v-neck is cute, too." She giggled.

"Hmm... But those skinny jeans look oddly familiar…." The Haruno girl scratched her chin.

"Same about yours." Hinata laughed.

When Sakura went to pick up Hinata, she didn't really look to see what she was wearing. But as soon as they reached the third or fourth light, she realized they were wearing the same jeans. Too late to turn back.

"Man, they definitely have a few kegs here." Sakura snorted. Everyone in the crowd inside had a plastic red cup filled with beer. Half were already wasted or close to it.

"I see Naruto!" Hinata shouted so she could be heard over the music.

They walked over to the blond, who was talking animatedly to Shino Aburame. The guy didn't really seem to be listening, though.

"Hinata! Yay!" He ended his conversation with the guy in the round sunglasses and hugged the small girl.

"You guys have fun, I'm gonna go look for Sasuke!" Sakura shouted. The two nodded before she shuffled deeper into the house and crowd.

She searched the entire first floor in a half hour with no sign of Sasuke. It wouldn't have taken so long, but there were a lot of people that had stopped to talk or dance with her. As quickly as she could, she made her way up the stairs. The higher she went, the more apparent the smell of cigarettes became.

As she rounded the corner, she giggled when she spotted Ino making out with a certain boy by the name of Shikamaru. Ino always had a thing for soccer guys. Especially the captains. It didn't hurt that he was extremely smart, either. If only she had a camera… Then she could take a picture of them…and of course Neji and Tenten. She had caught them grinding heavily downstairs, very caught up in each other. Silly seniors...

Room after room she looked, nothing but random drunks making out or getting it on. She opened the last door, finding it to be the source of all the smoke. As it cleared a bit, she could see a group of guys inside. Cautiously, she entered. In her gut, she had a bad feeling stir up.

"Can we help you?" A deep, raspy voice asked.

"Uh, actually, yes. Uhm.."

She was really nervous, standing in front of Gaara. He was only sitting, but that's beside the point. It wasn't often, if ever, that one of the few popular kids was in a situation that they'd have to converse with a pot head or goth kid. Gaara was gifted enough to be categorized as both. His hard, green eyes with thick eyeliner stared back into her own. She felt her knees weaken a bit and reminded herself not to crap her pants.

"Yes..?" He urged, taking a drag from an odd looking cigarette.

"H-have you seen a guy around named Sasuke? He's tall, emo-ish hair, artsy..." She awkwardly shifted her weight as he continued to stare at her. He had the same expression all the time, it was near impossible to tell when he was high.

"He's right over there. Black jack." He pointed behind him to the small circle of people. A similar fog of smoke surrounded them.

"Uh, thanks." She quickly walked past him to the other people. It wasn't her crowd, but she knew them by name and reputation.

There was Zabuza, senior, heavy drinker and frequent occupant of the local jail. Kankuro, junior, tattoo addict with designs and such all over. He was kicked out of his old school for using hash. He still used it, but was more secretive in their school. Haku, smoker, quiet, had a thing for prescribed drugs. And then...Sasuke. Drinker, smoker, and apparently, their newest member.

He had a cigarette pressed between his lips and had three crushed red cups behind him and a sort of empty one next to him. She gasped and tapped him hard on the shoulder. When he looked up to glare at his tapper, his eyes widened in confusion.

"Sakura...?"

"Can you please step out for a minute?" She asked sweetly. It was obvious, though. She was seething.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he pulled her toward the corner of the dim room.

"I could ask you the same frickin' thing! Sasuke, these guys are total losers. They do drugs, break the law, they are the lowest of the low." She explained.

"Why are you here?" He asked impatiently.

"I was looking for you!" She replied hotly.

"I mean at this party." He blew smoke out over his shoulder.

"Naruto told me you guys would be here and invited us." She spat.

"Of course. How thoughtful of him." He muttered sarcastically. "Look, you shouldn't be here. Just go."

"Trust me, I had every intention of leaving. I don't hang with this crowd." She glared at him before stomping out of the room.

She pushed her way down the stairs, the house overloaded. She finally made it to the door, though. She sat on the sidewalk and ignored the stares she was getting as she pushed her face into her knees.

"Breathe and think..." She told herself. "Let's see, Sasuke's upstairs with the druggies, everyone else is either drunk or hooking up and right now I'm super pissed because...because…."

Even though she was muttering so quietly she could barely hear it herself, she couldn't get the words past her lips. She didn't hang with druggies and Sasuke was obviously joining them.

Though it wasn't something you go around telling the world, everyone could tell or knew which stereotypical clique Sakura Haruno fit in. Not just her, everyone. Her school was very divided amongst cliques as are many schools. She and her friends were quite popular and were looked up to by mostly everyone. Ino was the top of the Populars in the junior grade and Neji was the equivalent for the seniors.

Shikamaru was a jock, captain of the soccer team. Jocks were allowed to talk to the Populars. The Nerds were made up of people like Rock Lee, but he somehow had some social points since he was also on the soccer team. Before that, he was no where near being able to utter a word to Sakura or her friends. Kabuto was a good example of that. Nerdy guy, always quiet in the class and only spoke to answer or explain anything referring to a lesson.

Then there was the infamous Druggies. Gaara, the main one. The criminal, the pusher, the dealer, the creep, the demon, the leader. They were the crew that was usually in an alley selling their "brownies" or scaring the innocence out of freshmen. Usually they mixed with the Goths. Those were allies.

"You okay?" Came a sweet, familiar voice.

"I guess." She shrugged as Hinata sat down next to her.

"What happened? We saw you bolt out the door." Naruto asked, sitting close to his new girlfriend.

"I found Sasuke. Apparently, he wasn't expecting me." She grumbled.

"Yeah, it was a surprise. Wasn't he happy to see you?" Naruto was confused.

"Not really," She exhaled loudly, "he was with his new buddies smoking and playing cards."

"Oh…." For once, he was at a loss for words.

"Whatever, I don't care. He can do all the drugs he wants. It doesn't have anything to do with me." She shrugged again. Still, the couple knew she was just trying to convince herself.

"Do you want to go?" Hinata asked. Inside, she quietly didn't want to. She wanted to keep dancing with Naruto. But as Ino put it, 'Chicks before Dicks.'

"You know what? Yeah. Oh, but you guys stay. Naruto, can you drive her home?" She asked hopefully.

"Sure thing. I had one beer, so I'll call it quits now." He hugged Hinata reassuringly.

"At least you're responsible." Sakura laughed. "I'll see you guys Monday."

But no sooner then when she started up her car did she realize that she'd be seeing _him _tomorrow.

Yay, team.

* * *

**Due to some mishaps and misunderstanding, I unfortunately am without a beta at the time. (Still love you, tbrk!)**

**Uhm, so, I was surfing thru beta profiles, and I found a few decent people. I guess. But then I realized it was quite likely they'd be, you know, completely and utterly lost if they hadn't read Not As Planned aka NAP. So I'm calling out to you readers in search of a beta. **

**Requirements:**

**Willing to put up with me occasionally skipping words (I type too fast.. So you'll probably end up having to fill in the missing words..)**

**VERY good with grammar and spelling. Like, you need to be utterly untouchable in that area. Oh.. that sounded wrong.. (I'm very good about that, but a second opinion is always better.)**

**Must be ready to fire critique at me or offer an opinion as to whether or not a scene is working or if nothing makes sense. This is crucial, so I need a thoughtful person.**

**Spends a loooottttt of time on the computer. Meaning, if I send you a document, I really, really want it back within 4 days.**

**If you think you have what it takes, head over to my profile. There will be a section titled "Beta Test" squeezed in somewhere. It'll be a sloppy piece of writing that you simply need to beta as if it were part of a story and then send back the revised piece to me via PM. Don't email it to me, that will confuzzle my mysterious ways and immediately disqualify you even if you have the talent of Shakespeare and a guy who writes dictionaries.**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	3. BETA TEST IS UP

**The Beta Test will be up tomorrow, August 20, 2008. Sorry for the confusion. THE SECTION IS UP NOW!!**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	4. Sorry, you lose Try Again!

**See? I updated! Right on time, just like I promised. I'm absolutely loving my high school (and the fact that the upperclassmen in my advanced course think I'm a junior, not freshman). The only thing is that, well, I have literally two hours a week to use the computer. That's how much homework I have. Right now, I speeding through this to get back to my insane Algebra 2 homework.. And Chemistry. Yeah.**

**Uhm, okay, so I'll take some of _my _valuable weekend time (I spend weekends at my mom's) and type up another chapter... You guys should be kissing my feet. For serious. **

* * *

Sorry, you lose. Try again!

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- & -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

Fat, sugar-coated rainbow loops floated lazily in her glass bowl as they slowly became heavy with milk. Her spoon sent them around and around before scooping up a few. Her dad promptly came out from the hall and sat down to eat his already prepared toast and orange. His coffee had two spoons of creamer and one spoon of sugar. Costa Rican blend only.

"So, Sakura, what do you have planned for today?" He asked, just as he did every Saturday morning.

"I think I'm just gonna stay home today and relax. Maybe go swi-"

"Good, good. Listen, since you'll be here, would you mind letting Sasuke in for me?" He smiled sweetly as he sipped his brew.

"What? Why?" She narrowed her eyes. "Won't you be here? That's the whole point in him coming."

"Yes, but, I promised Beth we'd go for a jog and it slipped my mind." Now the bright green jogging outfit made sense. It didn't seem odd to her _just_ because she always saw him in a suit. This thing... It glowed.

"Can't you just call him and reschedule?" She finished her apple slices and pulled at her pink puppy-covered pajama pants.

"I tried, but he didn't answer. What's the problem? I thought you two were friends." Sakura's father narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Yeah, but…whatever. When's he coming?" She got up and pushed in her chair.

"Dear! Let's get going!" Beth called on her way to the door. She had on a similar jogging suit, just purple. It also had a…glow.

"Ah, coming! Oh, he'll be here-" Just like that, there was a knock at the door.

"Sasuke's here!" Beth announced.

"You must be joking.." Sakura muttered under her breath. She inwardly swore when she remembered that she didn't brush her hair yet which was currently in knotty fluff ball on the top of her head and- no, wait. She _was _wearing a bra. Okay, she would probably live through this.

"Well, good morning, Mr. Haruno. Sick outfit you got on." Sasuke complimented. Sakura could tell he was dying to crack up right there on the floor.

"Good morning to you, too. I tried reaching your cell all morning to tell you I needed to postpone our meeting, but you didn't answer. So if you don't mind waiting an hour, that' be great."

"Sure, sure. Not a problem. I'm at fault here, so take your time." He smiled pleasantly at them.

"Right. See you. Bye, Sakura!" The door slammed behind them.

Sasuke turned to Sakura who was picking up the plates and mugs on the table. She was sporting a heavily pissed off expression all the while.

"Don't you guys have maids?" He asked, tracing his fingers along the table.

"They make breakfast and leave for the weekend." She grumbled, quickly carrying everything into the kitchen.

"So we're all alone, then?" He asked suggestively.

"_You're _all alone," She brushed past him, "_I'm _going to my room."

"Wait," He grabbed her arm, "you seriously can't be pissed about last night."

"And what if I am?" She shot back.

"Then that's stupid. Sakura, you know I smoke and drink. What was with the sudden shock then?"

She yanked her arm away from him. "Me! Being stupid?! You were hanging with those idiots. _That's _stupid!" She stomped down the hall.

"Sakura," He followed her, "c'mon. Why does that bother you so much?" He caught the door before she could slam it in his face.

"Because!" She yelled. "They have no lives! They're the worst of the worst, nobodies! No good scum!"

He smirked, still as calm as ever. "Love, do you really think I could turn into scum just from that one night?"

"One night? You'll see them again. And you'll hang out with them again. You know it, too." She growled.

He stepped toward her and pulled her stiff body into his arms. "Maybe you're right. But I won't change."

"You're hopeless." She sighed and squirmed out of his hold. Her body fell back onto her bed and she closed her eyes.

The mattress sank from the end and she felt him lie next to her. She didn't react when his large hand cupped her cheek or when his thumb caressed it either. She opened her eyes and stared into his playful ones.

"Sasuke, please." She whispered.

"You're just gonna have to deal with me like I am." He teased.

"There's always room for improvement, you know." She smirked.

"Don't fix what isn't broken." He replied before pulling himself off the bed.

"Who's the judge on that?" She got up as well as he walked to the door.

"We'll see."

They went out into the living room and he pulled the sliding glass door to the balcony open. He lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag from it. She shook her head disapprovingly and wrapped her hands over her bare arms as she stepped out with him. It was quite breezy out.

"How many do you smoke a day?" She asked.

"A pack, I guess. Give or take." He let out the smoke and leaned onto the railing.

"Do you drink a lot?" She watched him as he put the stick back to his lips.

"Nope. Just at parties or a beer occasionally." He shrugged.

"Drugs?" He turned to her and raised an amused eyebrow.

"Drugs?" He repeated with a chuckle.

"Yes. Now answer." She glared.

"Sakura, you know better." He took another long drag from the cigarette.

"Do I?" She looked at him with hard eyes.

"I don't do drugs." He said slowly.

"Good. Let's keep it that way, shall we?"

"Sure, sure." He laughed.

"I'm gonna go change."

"Aw, but you look so cute," He pouted, "I can see your nipples get hard from the breeze."

"What!?" She shrieked.

"I'm teasing, relax. I'll be done when you get back." He winked at her before she spun on her heel to storm inside.

She slowed down once she reached the hallway. Quietly, she inhaled deeply and exhaled as much of her stress as she could. In her room she began untangling the wild forest of her hair as she stared into her closet thoughtfully. Jeans would work, of course. And she hadn't worn her favorite white tee in what felt like ages. She yanked off her tank top and kicked off the pajama pants as she continued breathing in an attempt to soothe herself. Why was she getting so worked up over him?

He smiled at her from the sofa when she came out of her room. "What should we do to pass the time, Miss Haruno?"

"I guess we could watch something." She twisted her loose side ponytail to distract her fingers as she nodded over to the insanely huge plasma on the wall.

"That'll do." He shrugged. Inside, he was drooling. Definitely male.

They plopped down on the sofa and he flicked on the screen. Once he found a channel that would suffice, he leaned back and got comfortable. It didn't take long, though, for him to notice how _un_comfortable _she _was. Her posture would put a ruler to shame and she sat on the edge, as if ready to leap up in an instant. He ran his knuckles down her back and furrowed his eyebrows when she jumped in surprise.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, why?" She fiddled with her hair again.

"Well, you seem tense." He watched her carefully.

"No I'm not." She answered defensively.

"Then lean back with me." He grinned.

She felt her heart skip as it always did when he'd play the charm card on her. "Fine..."

He smiled smugly as she loosened up and rested her back on the sofa. Huffing in amusement, he playfully pulled her closer and swung her legs over his lap. She blushed like she always did, but that didn't make it any less cute any time he witnessed it. She rested her cheek on his shoulder with a sigh and watched the 'That 70's Show' rerun.

He brought his arm around her shoulders and the other one was on the opposite side to her knees. His hand rested there while his thumb subconsciously stroked her clothed skin. It took her a second to realize the position they were in and couldn't help but turn red in the face again. To heighten the situation even more, she refused to move away. But just as a precautionary, she kept her ears open for the door for when her dad came back. She'd have to swing her legs back fast and sit at least a foot away from Sasuke. Getting up would be too suspicious. That's why those stupid teens on TV always got caught. Idiots. Like the parents would actually believe they were just _standing _there.

"Sakura?"

"Hm?" She looked up at him.

"I can't believe I'm asking you this but," he took a deep breath and she swore she could hear her heart pounding. "would it be cool with you if I enrolled to your school?"

"..What?" She asked flatly. She couldn't believe she actually thought he was gonna ask her out or something.

"Naruto's already enrolled there and your dad's gonna be pissed if I don't graduate. I can't give up a job opportunity like this just because I don't want to do some stupid homework I already know the answers to." He smirked at her.

"Why are you asking me? I can't stop you."

"But I don't want to upset you." His fingers lingered under her chin. She shivered to his satisfaction.

"Why would that upset me?" She was really confused.

"Well, maybe you wouldn't want to be seeing me so much. I mean, school, after school, random weekends, your dad's work, blah blah blah. It can get old, I guess." He shrugged.

"I think I'll manage." She giggled.

"Good. Now if only I can." She thunked him on the back of the head.

"Sasuke!" She shouted.

"I'm kidding! Geez, but not if you're gonna do that all the time.." He grumbled with a grin.

She sighed and leaned back into him. Her hands wrapped around his arm before he could swing it behind her again. She liked having something to hold onto. His hand settled on the outside of her upper thigh, patting it gently. He couldn't resist, really.

Soon enough, the sound of the front door unlocking reached her ears. Just as she had planned, she unlatched herself from Sasuke and scooted away before making sure she looked casual and bored. You can't get much more innocent than that.

"Phew, sorry, we took a little longer than expected. Beth saw some jewelry in a window on the way back and, well, you know." Mr. Haruno waved his hand dismissively.

"Where is she now?" Sasuke asked to the younger Haruno's surprise. How was it possible for him to keep such strong business relationship while being able to ask such personal questions? He must've been on some weird reality TV show. That was the only plausible explanation for all of this.

"Oh, since we were running behind schedule, she had to run straight to her Pilates class." He shrugged. "So ten more minutes and I'll be right with you."

"Fine by me." He smiled pleasantly. The sweaty businessman clad in obnoxious neon green walked off to his quarters, leaving the two alone again.

"Where's Naruto today?" Sakura asked, avoiding as much awkward silence as possible.

"Hn." He shrugged.

"..Thank you. That was very informative." She got up and stretched, a yawn emitted from her mouth.

"Where are you going?" He asked as she began trailing to the hallway.

"My room." She called back.

"So am I." He replied with his cocky attitude, following her.

"No you're not." She laughed.

"And why is that?" He asked, cornering her by her door using his arms.

"I'm going back to bed and _you _have a meeting with Mr. Haruno." She smiled, hiding her fluttering nerves seamlessly.

"He's in the shower, let me lay down with you. I'm a bit tired myself, you know." He breathed out in a husky tone she wasn't familiar with.

Her face was covered in a severe shade of red as she felt him lean his body onto hers. "S-sorry, can't!" She stammered quickly before ducking under his arm and locking her door behind her.

He sighed, a failed attempt. No worries, though. He had two years ahead of him. Six days a week to give it another shot.

School suddenly became an entirely different opportunity all together now.

* * *

**Did anyone get the title? It's supposed to make sense by the end. ANYONE?? **

**BIG HUMUNGOUS THANK YOU TO LYDIA-CHAN! (She's my beta now.)**

**...I have to go do homework. Share with me your school stories! I NEED to be able to relate!!**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	5. Don't deny me my Captain

**I'm updating a day early to ask of you guys a favor. Check out my profile. Seriously. I've had a total epiphany and I have found my purpose, my motivation for life. I know what I want. Just read the section below my Michael Phelps loving/obsession in the regular font and the 9.11.08 update below it. And I really want you guys to think about it. I'll just say this: open-mindedness will save us all. **

* * *

Don't deny me my Captain

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- & -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Okay, so you'll bring by what you have finished next Wednesday. Beth will be pleased."

The satisfied smile on his aging face ensured Sasuke of that fat check he was working toward. Even though Naruto was working a good number of hours at the diner and his art was also being sold at a fairly good rate, they were on the edge. Food, clothes, art supplies, _school _supplies, water bill, electric bill... and in a loft, no less. It wasn't like the place was free or anything. But he needed the space, it was his art studio.

"That's what I'm aiming for." He smiled politely.

"Good, good." He leaned back in his chair and studied the young artist. His fingers scratched at his lips in thought.

"Is there anything else?" Sasuke spoke up, seeing as it was obvious his boss wanted to say something.

"Have you thought about what high school you're going to attend? That is, if you still want a permanent spot on my list."

"I have, actually. I meant to bring the matter up, but it slipped my mind. All of this preparation for the memorial service tomorrow has taken over my mind."

"Do tell. About your plans, not the services." He propped his elbows up on the table in interest and leaned in to listen. "I am a very patriotic man, but I'm also a businessman." He chuckled, finding his words somewhat clever. Sasuke swallowed a comment he'd later regret.

"Well, my roommate is currently enrolled in Corkwell High and has told me nothing but good things of it. I'm preparing to get the proper papers so I can send them to my brother back in Italy."

"I see. Is your brother your legal guardian?"

"Yes, sir." Sasuke confirmed.

"Funny coincidence really. My daughter attends Corkwell, too. Well, I'd be more than happy to contact the administration there and help simplify the process as much as possible. As one of the core funders for the school, I doubt that should be much of a problem." He grinned proudly and stood with his hand outstretched.

"I'd appreciate that." Sasuke stood as well and shook his hand.

"Very well, then. I'll fax you the proper papers this afternoon so you can send them to your brother immediately. Have a good weekend, Mr. Uchiha. Make sure to pay your respects at Ground Zero, too." He warmly showed him to the door and Sasuke nodded back.

The teen walked down the marble-floored corridor and leaned against the wall as he waited for the elevator. He checked his cell phone and saw that Naruto had texted him.

**Goin2 gt grocries. Need anythng specific??**

He smirked, happy he wasn't paying for them this time.

**Tomatoes, cannd soup, ground coffee, milk n captaincrunch. buy1get1free, so also frostdflakes**

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, he stepped into the overly regal elevator. He felt so cheap and poor when he saw there was even a TV inside with him. He sighed and walked out of the grand lobby and onto the windy streets. The bustling crowds somehow comforted him in the sense that he knew none of these people out here could afford living in such a place either.

He made his way down a few blocks and took a cab the rest of the way to his building. The crowds were strangely thicker and rougher while the traffic seemed a little less congested today. Why not take advantage?

Up in his huge loft, his footsteps echoed throughout the rooms. The gigantic window that made up the entire wall looked out over the bustling city from above. He kicked off his Vans and let his feet pad along the wood flooring and into the small kitchen. He grabbed himself the pot on the stove and filled it with water to boil. It was a day for tea, he decided.

He made his way back into the over-sized living room with the extremely high ceiling, white walls, two black leather sofas, one matching recliner and the glass coffee table on the zebra patterned rug. Totally fake, though. As if he'd buy a poor zebra skin from a horrible poacher. Plus, he wouldn't even if he wanted to. Tight wallet, remember?

He shuffled into his studio where paint splattered tarps were spread all over. Odd projects not quite finished were standing on easels while a few of his finished pieces hung proudly on the walls. The several paintings made specifically for Mr. Haruno's gold digger, erm, cough, _wife, _were clustered in a corner, sketches of the rooms designed around them were pinned to each one. He turned on the fax machine by the door.

A faint whistle was coming from the other room, signaling Sasuke to go pull the pot off the stove. He quickly jogged in and set it to the side before putting the tea bag in his red mug. Slowly, he tipped the pot downward and allowed the burning liquid to pour. Steam fluttered into his face and he replaced the rest of the liquid onto the cooling stove for later.

Just as he sat down on the comfy sofa, ready to enjoy his raspberry tea, the inevitable happened. Of course.

"Honey! I'm HOOOOMMMEEE!!" Naruto shouted, the door slamming open.

Fortunately, Sasuke hadn't brought the mug close enough to his face for him to spill any. He sat it down on the table and got up to glare at the blond.

"I'd really appreciate it if you'd learn to use an indoor voice." He growled.

"And I'd really appreciate it if you didn't always have a stick up your ass. Oh wait," He grinned mischievously, "you don't _always _act so snooty. Especially when you're with Sa-ku-ra..!" He sang her name obnoxiously and Sasuke just ground his teeth together.

"Shut up." He muttered and went back to his tea.

Naruto snickered and carried the bundle of grocery bags into the kitchen. "Hey, what happened with you and Sakura last night? You left before I could ask and I was late for work so I didn't get to ask this morning either." He called out from the open fridge.

"None of your business." He replied shortly.

Silence enveloped the loft for a few minutes. The only noise was the rustling of plastic bags from the kitchen and cabinet doors closing.

"You know," Naruto started again, sitting in front of Sasuke on the opposite sofa. "when I took Hinata home, she was really worried about her. It must've been bad. C'mon, tell me." He urged pleadingly.

Sasuke gave him a subtle glare from his tea before holding it securely by his thigh. "I didn't know she was coming, thanks to _you_. I was upstairs with some guys who were drinking and smoking. We were playing some cards and shit for awhile. I knew they weren't even close to being some goody-goody girl scouts, but what friends of mine are?" Naruto expression soured into one of seriousness.

"Moving on, what happened when Sakura came in?" He prompted the brooding artist.

"Well, I guess she was shocked. She knows I do that sorta stuff, so I didn't really get why she was so pissed off. Honestly, she seemed pretty scared of that crowd." He shrugged and sipped from the mug.

"I know that's not the end, bastard. We saw her out on the fricken' curb."

"I didn't say I was done, idiot." He smirked. "I told her she shouldn't be in there since, well, she shouldn't."

"Aww! You were trying to protect her!" Naruto teased, laughing loudly.

Sasuke just ignored him. "She got pissed and left. I didn't follow her, though. I figured it was best to just let her go."

"Nice story." Naruto told him dryly.

"You asked for it." He got up and brought his empty mug back into the kitchen. He had enough tea for one day.

"Listen, I-" The blond stopped when he heard an odd buzzing from the other room. "You expecting a fax?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's the enrollment papers. I need to send them to Itachi so I can start school." He sighed, no enthusiasm in his voice.

"Cool. Oh wait, I just remembered what I was gonna say." He grabbed Sasuke by the shoulder to face him.

"Well, say it before your attention span runs out again."

"As charming or amazing as she thinks you are, that wouldn't matter if you hang out with those guys. The red-head was trying to sell me some pot when I saw him, dude. From what I understand, Hinata, Sakura and their friends are pretty damn high on the social ladder. I doubt that any of them would throw that all away for a pot head."

"You know I don't do drugs, Naruto." He scolded.

"Not yet, you don't. Look, you know I don't have the cleanest record, but you have to listen to me. I'm avoiding that kinda crowd and you should, too. I can't stop you, but seriously, no good is gonna come from them." With that, he gave him a half smile and walked off to his room.

"Shit.." He muttered, poking a finger inside his mouth. He had burned his tongue.

If only he had bitten it earlier.

* * *

**In history, we're discussing the Old Testament and comparing it to modern-day beliefs. We're on the topic of Moses. You'd be surprised at all the things genuine proof has disproved specifics in the Bible. Now listen. There's a very strong believer in the Bible in my class. She believes homosexuals will go to Hell and that every word of the Bible is true. I have nothing against that. She doesn't listen to a word my teacher says yet has a comment for everything that is said. I like hearing both sides. It really makes you question your own beliefs. Pretty breath-taking.**

**Anywho, if you are very religious, please please please go to my profile and read the section I mentioned in my first a/n. I really want to hear from you guys. I want to learn. I want to gain an understanding and what better place to ask is the bridge connecting all of Earth? Come on, it's the internet! Five seconds of your time. What better things do you have to do? Look up another fanfic? You have the rest of your life. I don't. Just check it out. You might laugh, pass out, or gulp in fear. Just read it.**

**-**

**Dedicated to those fallen on September the eleventh, two-thousand one.**

**-**

**-**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	6. More of a reflex

**This little (teensy weensy..) paragraph was just added. Below is the part from a few days ago... Fanfic didn't send out the alert, so I reposted the chapter. Here ya go!!**

**Sorry it's late. I was at a uh, well, party with uhm, people like Gaara in this fic and that crowd. Lots of uhm...stuff. Yes, lots of stuff happened. So I really wasn't home yesterday and wasn't feeling my best earlier so I'm forcing myself to post this up today.**

* * *

More of a reflex

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"So are you still gonna hang with him if he ends up, you know, like _them_?" Tenten asked swinging her hand in Neji's.

"I'm not sure, to be honest." Sakura sighed as she closed her locker.

"Naruto said that Sasuke will make his own decisions regardless of what anyone thinks." Hinata told her.

"Yeah, well, we'll see." She shrugged.

"Sakura, if he ends up with that unfortunate group of dirt, don't lower yourself to their level. Make _him _choose, not you." Neji explained, his face as flawlessly serious as ever.

"Aw, Neji, don't make it sound so dramatic." Tenten nagged at him.

"I'm not." He huffed arrogantly.

"Are, too! Look at her! Now she's a total wreck!" She swung her arms in the air to further express her case and forgot she was holding his hand, so his arm was jerked uncomfortably, making him lose his balance, if only for a second.

"Still, it's the truth." Neji finished, turning back to Sakura.

"I…Thanks, guys. Look, I'm gonna go to class. I'll see-"

"Isn't he the hottest thing ever? I told you!" A girl squealed to her friend, running past the Haruno. In the process, she almost knocked her down. Almost. Thank cupcakes and all that is great that she was wearing her comfy heels that day.

"What the hell are they so excited about?" Ino asked, popping out of no where.

"Forget them, what happened to _you?_" Tenten countered, wide-eyed.

"N-nothing." She replied unsurely as she tried to run her fingers through her hair.

But that would be next to impossible in the state it was in. Her hair was fluffed and stringy like someone stuck her head out of a speeding car then flipped it and blow-dried it for a half hour. And then proceeded to tie and untie and retie half of the billion knots in her hair. Yeah. Don't forget the wrinkled blouse, twisted flannel skirt and smudged lipstick. Oh, and the hickey. Minor detail.

"Here, let me help." Hinata held back her giggle as she stepped closer to tame the blonde mess.

"Well..?" Sakura prompted her friend.

"Well what?" She shot back defensively.

"Just spill already, Yamanaka." Tenten laughed.

"I was with Shika.." She mumbled.

Neji snorted. "Nara? He did that? Nice." He laughed along with his girlfriend.

"There." Hinata announced, finished untangling the load of knots.

"Thanks.." Ino sighed and smoothed out her clothes and wiped at her mouth. "So what were those girls talking about?"

"Wow, you were so busy sucking face you missed some gossip? Say it isn't so!" Sakura mocked dramatically.

"Just tell me!" She whined.

"We don't know. Some hot guy they mentioned." Tenten rolled her eyes and leaned into Neji's chest.

"Well, there's the bell. Let's just text each other if we find out, okay?" Ino did the puppy eyes.

"Sure, sure." Sakura smiled. At least there was a small promise of fun today.

They separated to head off toward their classes, Sakura alone. She saw one of the girls that had almost knocked her over and growled quietly. If she had fallen, that sophmore would be _so _dead.

"Oh, Sakura! I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to almost run into you! You okay?" She had asked her nervously.

"It's fine, it's fine. Just be more careful, 'kay?" She smiled sweetly to the sophmore.

"Definitely. Thank you!" The girl scurried away with her friends who were all chattering in hushed tones how she actually talked to her. _The_ Sakura Haruno!

When she got to class, she couldn't focus on Mr. Jiraiya. Well, his lessons rarely required an attention span longer than that of a glue bottle, but that's beside the point. She was listening intently to a girl who's name escaped her at the moment who was whispering to her friend next to her about this famous hottie she heard of earlier.

"He's so sweet, too! He asked for directions and when he thanked me I thought I was gonna die!" She had worked hard to contain her squeal.

"Seriously? I saw him, too! Ugh, I just wanna run my fingers through his hair and-"

"Ladies? Is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Mr. Jiraiya asked them suddenly.

"No, sir." The first one replied quickly.

"Good." He said nothing else, really. Sakura wasn't even sure if he had been teaching something before that...

The period crept along a little longer and the bell finally rang. Lunch!

She spotted Naruto first, him in a bright orange shirt with sort of skinny jeans. The whole way to the table she debated whether or not they'd be considered skinny. In the end she concluded that they were in fact skinny jeans, just a bit baggy.

"Hey, Sakura." Hinata greeted happily beside Naruto.

"Watsup!" Naruto waved.

Ino was in line with Shikamaru still, since she spotted her inside. Neji and Tenten were sitting with some of the popular seniors. She was about to sit next to Naruto to be across from Hinata, but he held out his arm and blocked her.

"Naruto, let me sit." She instructed.

"Can't, saving this seat." He explained, munching on a bag of Fritos.

"There's enough room for four other people." She quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Ino, Shikamaru, you and him." He stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Him?" She challenged the blondie.

"Me." A deep voice whispered in her ear.

She jumped with a squeak and spun around to see a smirking Sasuke clad in a dark purple tee with the band Nirvana printed across his chest in black and some seriously tight jeans. Now _those _were skinny jeans.

"You scared the crap out of me! Thank God I have a bagged lunch! If I had lost my one source of nutrition for the afternoon, you'd _so _be paying_."_ She smacked him on the arm and held back a blush when she noticed how firm it was. Well, it's not like she didn't already know after spending so much time with him in Italy, but feeling it in New York was different. Yes, there's a difference.

"Scared of cafeteria food?" He snorted.

"I just prefer my own sandwich, thank you very much." She huffed and spun on her heel to face the table again.

_Why is Sasuke here? _She wondered.

She laughed in her head, remembering that duh! Her dearest father had threatened his career unless he finished high school. And to think she had been the cause of it. Girl power, baby.

Sasuke swiftly moved around her, dragging his hand along her waist before sitting next to Naruto. He patted the gap next to him for her to sit down. She obliged, quietly damning the monthly "Casual Week". One week every month was Casual Week. During said week, students didn't have to wear the usual uniform consisting of ties, dress pants, pleated skirts, blouses and shiny moccasins.

Ino and Shikamaru smiled in greeting and took the last two available spots at the table. Ino talked to Naruto about how funny it was that the mysterious hottie was in fact Sasuke and Shikamaru gave Sakura the heads-up about the impossible pop quiz she'd be getting at the end of the day. Hinata asked Ino where she got her new pearl necklace and wait. Ino just said Sasuke was the mysterious hottie?

Sakura didn't want to seem like a total idiot despite Ino breaking her promise to text her. So, she merely looked around her and saw groups of girls giggling and giving her side glances. It wasn't like they were laughing at her or anything. No, she was too high above them to do such a thing. They were simply gossiping about the new guy, Sasuke. Had they seen him drag his hand along her waist? She mulled this over in her mind, not sure whether or not it'd be a good thing.

Kankuro walked by and patted Sasuke on the shoulder. "Hey." He greeted the tattoo addict. He grinned back before disappearing around the corner. That's where the rest of _them _spent lunch, in the secluded corner where teachers couldn't see them. There weren't any security cameras, either. The perfect place to get high. Her breath hitched. That was where Sasuke snuck up on her from.

"Babe, you okay?" Sasuke combed back some of her hair from her face.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just worried about that damn pop quiz later." She lied to the best of her ability.

When he seemed to accept her excuse, she bit into her turkey sandwich and glanced back to see a few girls sigh in disappointment and others quietly squeal. If only they knew he used such terms as 'babe' or 'sweetie' very casually. ...He did, right? Only casually?

She stopped herself before she started up on another inner conflict. Instead, she listened in on what the others were talking about.

"..and then I jumped just in time to head butt the ball back to Lee for the goal." Shikamaru finished.

"Wow, that's amazing." Ino breathed out. Sakura couldn't believe how head over heels she was for him. Ino? Left breathless by a guy? It was always the other way around. Could she be..?

"Sakura, are you sure that quiz is all you're worried about?" Sasuke placed his hand on top of hers in concern.

"Something wrong?" Hinata asked.

"No, everything's good! Really, guys. I'm fine." She smiled.

"If you say so.." Hinata replied, not one-hundred percent believing her.

The lunch bell rang again and everyone got up to throw out their trash. Sakura was completely oblivious to groups of stares sent her way when Sasuke grabbed her hand and started to pull her inside. He kept pulling her along even when she tried to stop.

"Sasuke, my class is upstairs and the staircase is over there." She pointed behind her to the opposite side of the school.

"I don't care. It's not like you'd be able to pay attention judging by the way you were at lunch." He lifted an eyebrow and grinned at her, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Where are we going?" She asked, surprised he _knew_ where he was going. It was only his first day, after all.

"Here." He pulled her into a janitor's closet quickly when there wasn't anyone around.

"Sasuke!" She yelled. His hand covered her mouth and pulled her back into his chest.

"Keep your voice down." He told her in a whisper.

"Are you seriously planning on skipping class on your first day?" She asked him in disbelief.

"Pretty much." She could feel his lips twist upwards as he pressed them into the crook of her neck.

"Sasuke..." She muttered in warning as he slid to the floor. She was sitting between his legs with their knees folded up since, hello! It's a freaking closet.

"Relax, would you? And we aren't leaving until you tell me what the hell is wrong with you." He muttered.

"I can just scream rape, you know." She told him confidently.

"Go right ahead." He chuckled.

"I..! You..! Ugh, Sasuke, please just let me go." She pleaded.

"Nope," He chirped, tying his arms around her waist. "not until you talk."

She didn't say a thing, she just sat there. What _was _bothering her? She felt a familiar warmth in her eyes and tried her best to prevent any tears from falling. Sasuke's nose was tickling the side of her neck and she shivered as he trailed it back and forth slowly, barely touching. His lips stayed connected to the base of her neck. She inhaled through her nostrils deeply and froze when she realized what she was smelling. Besides the burning smell of bleach and dusty brooms, she smelled him. But it was a slightly different smell. There was more. He smelled of _them. _She couldn't hold it back anymore. She choked back a sob as tears trickled down her face and onto his arms.

He immediately lifted his face and pulled her closer. He spread his legs as far apart as possible in the confined space they had and turned her around. Her shoulder was facing him, but it would do. He rubbed her arm and leaned her head onto his shoulder. Her eyes were pressed to his neck and he felt the warm tears moisten his skin. She was able to muffle her sobs in the end and after a few minutes calmed down. Time seemed to stop as they sat in their embrace. They could've been there for seconds, minutes, possibly years. She couldn't have been certain.

Just as she was about to speak, her phone vibrated in her purse. She pulled it out, thankful for the distraction. When the screen lit up, her face glowed and he could see the streaked mascara and runny nose. Not the prettiest sight, but he knew he'd fix it. And he didn't mean the makeup. The text was from Hinata, asking where she was. Sasuke watched as she replied saying she was safe with Sasuke and would see her before next period. She slid it back into her purse and wiped the makeup mess away with the back of her hand. He grabbed her hand mid-swipe and intertwined their fingers.

"Please tell me, Sakura." He whispered.

She leaned back into him and let out a soft sigh, one of defeat.

"I'm not really sure." She mumbled.

"Let me help." He pleaded.

Her voice cracked, struggling to hold back another sob. "..I really don't want you to end up like them."

"Is that what this is about?" He asked, his chest rumbling with a chuckle.

"..You smell like them now.." He squeezed her hand before bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

"That's because I was around them. Sakura, they're my friends." He explained.

"They aren't good pe-"

"I admit they aren't perfect angels like Hinata or scoring tests or goals on the field like Shikamaru, but they still are nice guys. Haku is pretty cool to talk to and Kankuro is really funny. You're too quick to judge, Sakura." He kissed her ear when she lifted her head. It was more of a reflex, he realized. The whole kissing her where ever thing.

"Everyone else is gonna think you're a total stoner, whether or not you really are." She whispered.

"Let them. I won't be one and that's all that matters."

"How can you say that? No one will want to be with you."

"Those who would choose to hate and judge me aren't worth my time. Would you want to still hang out with me?"

"Sasuke, look, I-"

"Would you?"

This time, it was Sasuke's phone that vibrated. He whipped it out to read Naruto's predicted text.

"Who was it?" She asked curiously.

"Naruto." He grunted, trying to stand up.

"And..?" She asked, taking his hand to pull herself up as well.

"Class ends in one minute. Time to go."

"You planned this?" She asked, totally surprised.

"But of course."

He used the same husky voice he did when he had pinned her to the wall by her door. This time, she was pressed into the door of the closet and he was facing her back. He was leaning firmly into her, too. His hands held her waist and he brushed back her hair to affectionately kiss her neck repeatedly. He quickened his pace when he felt her skin heat up with a blush.

"S-Sasuke.." She stammered.

A bell sounded off and he immediately swung the door open and pushed her out. Of course not hard enough that she'd fall to the ground, just a stumble.

"Go to class, young lady. You don't want to get in trouble, now do you?" Same voice that gave her chills, right down her back. "Well, actually, the bathroom is where you should probably head first. People might assume things if they saw you now and you don't want to make an ass out of you or me, right?." He smirked.

Regardless of the makeup mess, would she? Would she make an ass of them both? Would she completely reject him from her life?

He couldn't help but wonder.

* * *

**Yeah, sorry, I really would love to give specific details of my adventure yesterday, but I can't.. Well, I can make the details general. Yes. That'll have to do. Okay, so, I went, there were cold _refreshments _and a special room for... happy things. That this Gaara likes to enjoy. Uhm. No. I didn't partake. (sp?) But I was there to keep an eye on a friend and hang with my crush who, unfortunately, was spendin' time in the happy room. Sigh. **

**I go to an art school, so everyone there is into that stuff. It's funny, 'cause you have to keep at least a high 'C' average to stay in the school and all these kids are total- _happy _people. Very, very, very happy people. Aaaaallllll the timee... Yeesssss... Catching on? Great.. So yeah, they all maintain their grades ABOVE the minimum (I know, wtf.) and that must really piss off the Above The Influence people.. The administration in my school has to know about it, but I think if they cracked down on it, there would be about, ooohhh, I don't know.. Four students..? Yeah, uh, I'm not gonna say if I'd be one of them;P**

**-**

**-**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	7. When the fivesecond rule doesn't count

**No, it's not Friday, don't freak out thinking your brain blew up and was sewn back together by a nomad tribe of mice cricket people who screwed up the date... **

**Yes, you were thinking that. Don't be afraid of my mind-reading abilities. **

**Now, the reason for this suddenly early update is because I won't be able to update on Friday becaaaauuuusssseee my floors are being redone and I've been kicked out of my house until it's done aaaaannnnndddd my friend needs to borrow my laptop for the week aaaaannnndddd school is not a good place to update fanfics, y'know?**

**So, yeah, enjoy, but understand that this still won't be updated until...October 24th. Check the bottom a/n for sneak peak on it and some other info. Chao, loves.**

* * *

When the five-second rule doesn't count.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- & -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

The final bell for the day sounded off and the rush of students pounded through the halls to leave. Ino was linked by the arm to Sakura and was gushing about her new dress she got over the weekend. The flow of bodies exiting the building was pretty steady and a bit calmer than most days. When the two reached the doors, she noticed a few blushing girls crowding outside and and equal number of students wrinkling their noses in some sort of disgust.

It all made sense when she stepped out, of course. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, drawing an audience, was Sasuke. He was smoking a cigarette and smirking, waiting for her. Ino snorted at the sight and told her she'd call her later for the details. As her blond buddy walked off, she clawed her fingers into her cream tunic and focused on the sound of the high heels on her boots hitting the stairs instead of the whispers. It had been quite awhile since any bad gossip had spread about her and she had a strong feeling those days were long gone, the quiet ones.

She sighed and half-smiled at him. He blew out some smoke and smirked down at her. He jerked his head in the direction down the street and she took a deep breath before following. The few strands of girls behind them were still there, close enough that their hushed conversations could be heard.

Sasuke's smirk widened when he heard them debating over whether or not the two were together. He finished off his cigarette and flung it behind him. The surprised squeaks of the gossipers made him a bit happy, he'd have to admit. He looked over at Sakura and saw her scowling at her feet.

"Not again, Sakura.." He sighed.

"They're talking. Everyone." She told him through her teeth.

"So?" He laughed. "We went over this already. It doesn't matter, sweetie." He tossed his arm over her shoulder.

"Don't call me that." She growled.

"All of the sudden you're defensive about names?" This was really aggravating.

"You're only furthering their suspicions!" She spat.

"Would they be right if they assumed such a thing?" He asked her.

"No." She mumbled.

"Then cool it." He told her seriously. "And suspicions? You make it sound like a crime."

They walked in silence for the next few blocks. His arm was still over her shoulders with his hand twiddling with a lock of hair. The quiet wasn't necessarily quiet, considering the fact that they were in the city. Regardless, it wasn't very uncomfortable either way. He suddenly removed his arm, causing her to look up at him with her unvoiced question. He just grinned and pulled her arm around him before resting his arm back behind her neck. She giggled and latched her thumb in his belt loop, a smile finally on her lips.

When they got up to her door, she unlocked it only to freeze on the spot. Sasuke looked around to see what was wrong and snorted when his eyes rested on the sofa. Well, what was _happening __on_the sofa. Her dad and Beth were currently sucking face pretty hard, her grinding on him intently. As unappealing as it was to watch this, Sasuke found it hard to look away. But he eventually did, nonetheless. Sakura was in some sort of state of shock, though. He gently guided her back out the door and locked it quietly behind them. He grabbed her hand and pulled her like a lost puppy to the elevator.

"My virgin eyes..." She mourned with her hands over her eyes as the shiny doors opened for them.

"It was bound to happen eventually," he shrugged, "just be thankful we didn't show up a few minutes later."

She groaned in disgust and pounded at her head in an attempt to rid her mind of the mental images. He pulled her into his arms as they descended down the elevator shaft. Yes, he did feel bad for her, but it was still as funny as hell for him. Maybe if he got closer to Mr. Haruno as their bonds grew stronger, he could bring this up and they'd have a good laugh. Okay, he wasn't stupid. He knew Mr. Haruno wouldn't find it anything but mortifying, but the look on his face would be absolutely priceless. Worth risking his job for? Hell yeah.

"Where do we go now?" She asked, trying to get her mind off of her now scarred mind.

"Hn."

"Sorry, I don't recall hearing of such a place." She perched her hands on her hips with her sarcastic words.

"What a shame." He shrugged, exiting the elevator.

The left the building and took to the streets. Sakura still had no idea where they were going and asking him again would only satisfy him in his sadistic ways. As soon as she noticed they were heading down to the subways, she groaned.

"Sasuke," She whined. "I hate the subway!"

"Aw, don't be afraid."

He stood in front of her and interlaced their fingers. He kissed the backs of her hands and was rewarded with a full-on blush. He smirked triumphantly. Before she could even utter a word, he managed to swiftly toss her over his shoulder and head back to the subway.

"Sasuke! Put me down! This is very uncomfortable!" She yelled.

He sighed and twisted her around so he was carrying her on his back like a child. "Better?" He asked.

"No." She grumbled, pink still staining her cheeks.

After paying up for the ride, they entered the almost empty car. As they started to move and the automated voice on the intercom began announcing the stops, Sasuke lowered the heiress into a seat. She huffed and looked away, a pouting lip set in place.

"Fine, I'll ignore you the rest of the way as well." He turned away and distracted himself with his plans for future art projects and how stupid the homework he was receiving was.

Sakura lowered her pouting shield, finding it pointless since Sasuke was actually ignoring her now. With her legs crossed, she busied herself with wiping off a tiny scuff mark from her heels. They stopped at the next station, but she didn't get up since Sasuke made no motion to. He had his fingers hooked onto the pole in front of him and just took a step to the side to allow a larger woman to pass. About five people walked in and spread themselves amongst the car. That is, except for one man.

The guy had on a dingy brown sweater on and baggy jeans. He sat right next to Sakura but gave no sign of acknowledgment. She shifted uncomfortably, unsure whether she should move or just ignore him. He had a backpack on his lap and pulled out a journal and pen. From the corner of her eye, she watched him scribble down notes in handwriting far too messy to read. He looked over at her blankly and she quickly averted her gaze.

Next thing she knew, there was a hand on her knee. She looked down in astonishment and then wide-eyed at the man. He was grinning, still writing in his journal.

"Hey!" She scolded, as his hand latched onto her upper thigh. "Stop it!" She panicked.

Sasuke spun around and glared at the man. He towered over the stranger and glared with all of Hell's fury down at him. He grabbed his wrist and ripped it off of Sakura to her relief.

"Move your ass now before I make you taste it." His voice was so threatening and cold, it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight.

The pervert quickly scurried from the seat to the doors. He waited for them to open at the next stop and then ran off.

"Are you okay?" He asked, petting her hair.

"Yeah, I'm okay now." She mumbled, leaning over into his chest.

He sat down, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and practically glued his leg to hers. They stayed like that until the next stop, which was where they were getting off.

"Come on," He pulled her up, "this is it."

"Can you please tell me now? I was felt up by some weirdo. I think I deserve at least an answer." She told him.

"True, true. Well, we're heading to the diner Naruto's workin' at. They have good fries, at least." He held her hand as they crossed the street.

The diner had an obnoxious flashing sign over it reading "Harry's" in red lights. They entered the not so fine establishment and took a seat in a booth. Sasuke waved over to Naruto, who grinned back at him. When he looked over at Sakura, he noticed how fidgety she seemed.

"What's up?" He asked her curiously.

"I uh, I don't think I've been in a diner before." She confessed.

He resisted the urge to laugh in her face, as hard as it was. Before he could respond, his phone began to play its perky little jingle ringtone. He pulled it out and frowned at the caller ID.

"Yes, sir?" He answered.

"Who is it?" Sakura mouthed. He put his hand up, concentrating on what the caller was saying.

"I'm terribly sorry. I have her with me and completely forgot to let you know. I told her I was really hungry since I missed lunch and begged her to join me for a bite at the diner my roommate is working at."

It was obvious it was her father. She pulled out her own phone and winced when she saw there were six missed calls, all from him. She had forgotten to turn it on after class. Oops.

"Uh huh. Really? ...Yes, sir. Thank you, you, too. Bye." He shoved the cell back in his pocket and sighed.

"Forgot to let him know we weren't heading there straight after school." He chuckled.

"Did he seem mad?" She was _so _not getting those gladiator sandals from Nine West if he was mad.

"Nope. I think he was just relieved. He told me to remind you just to call next time."

"Thank God..." She slumped back into the booth.

"Hey, guys!" Naruto greeted, dropping next to Sakura.

"Can you bring out some fries for us?" Sasuke asked him, twirling the salt shaker.

"It's not gonna be free, though." Naruto laughed.

"Hn. I got some bills on me." He grinned.

"Be right back." He winked at Sakura and zipped off to the kitchen. She smiled amusedly at his white button-up shirt and khaki pants under the stained apron. A rag was hanging from his back pocket.

"He works hard and does some overtime to make sure he can meet his half of the rent and enough for his ramen splurges."

"Isn't that stuff dirt cheap?"

"Not his kind. He makes it from scratch and buys a load of ingredients. It's really good, actually. The kid can cook."

"Hm, I guess I'll have to try it one day." She smiled.

"I guess you will." He grinned back.

"Here ya are! One basket of greasy potato sticks! Only two fifteen! Get em' while they're hot!" Naruto announced, serving out the steaming fries.

Sasuke pulled out a bunch of napkins and poured out some ketchup on them.

"Dig in." He told her.

"Thanks."

Naruto ran off and in a flash was back with two tall glasses of coke. "This is on me, though." He smiled.

"Wow, way to burn a hole in your pocket." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey! You wanna pay for it!?" Naruto yelled.

"Hn." Sasuke pushed a fry up the blonde's nose.

"Bastard." Naruto grumbled, stomping off to the new customers across the diner. But he didn't do it quickly enough for Sasuke or Sakura to miss him slipping the snotty fry into his mouth.

"Well, thanks again." Sakura giggled, eating her own not-snot-i-fied fry.

"No problem."

Because you're worth it.

**The next chapter will indeed be over ten pages. So far, it's nine, and it's sorta done. Think of it as a Halloween gift. Yes, a Halloween gift. I like that.. Muahaha.. Now, for that damn preview thing I promised.. Let me just cut n paste a bit..**

**"Well, as much fun as this has been, I'm gonna go. See ya." Sasuke got up and shuffled off to The Corner.**

**"I've had enough." Neji growled. Until then, he hadn't said a word. **

**"Then stop eating." Naruto laughed at his own joke. Just him.**

**Neji ignored him. "He can't keep sitting with us and then go off with _them._"**

**"He has other friends, big deal." Naruto scoffed.**

**"It wouldn't matter to me if they were anyone else. The fact that they happen to be the worst of the worst is another story. I'm fed up with all of the damn gossip spreading about us being involved as well." Sakura's stomach knotted up. She could tell where he was going with this again.**

**"Well, you do make a good point. Coach has been really on my ass about that guy. I had to take two random drug tests already. So troublesome.." Shikamaru bit into his apple.**

**"See? Nothing but shit!" Neji hissed. Tenten held his hand to calm him a bit.**

**"Don't you think you're overreacting a little?" Sakura piped in.**

**"With all of the stories going around about you, you really are going to defend him? Sakura, really?" Neji was staring disbelievingly at her.**

**"Dude, chill out. I know Sasuke well enough to say he's not doing anything. Just let this pass by and it'll all be good." Naruto offered.**

**"No! It's not all good! He's making a mockery of us and I won't allow some punk to make us into a joke! That's final!" Neji proclaimed. **

**No one spoke after that.**

**That's from page three. Yeah, some juicy stuff happens and you're guaranteed to eat it up. Part of the chapter is supposed to take place on Halloween, so I'm sure that'll get you hyped up for the following week. **

**So, as a thank you for the preview, please review and vote on my profile poll. I'm curious as to what you guys think...**

**Also, in your review, I want to hear what you're gonna be for Halloween! FYI, I already got dibs on the super cool fairy with obnoxious rainbow wings. Pssh, don't fight it.**

**-**

**-**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	8. Pick up when Mother Nature calls

**Here's the incredibly long chapter I promised. I'm writing this a/n on the eighteenth, lol. So, yeah.. Republican VP candidate Palin is going to host SNL tonight. I'm super excited, I must admit. **

**Uhmmm... I don't feel like saying much. Sigh. Is it just me or is Fred on YouTube not as funny as he used to be? **

* * *

Pick up when Mother Nature calls.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- & -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

It was the fourth Friday of October, the twenty-fourth. The day that plans were being set up for parties, weekend getaways and illegal stunts to be put into action just for the hell of it. Sakura was sitting on the steps with her group, jabbing about the same thing as everyone else. Yes, Halloween was the very last day of the month, but seven days of the same conversation somehow never got too boring...

"It starts at freakin' eight, which is perfect. Any party that starts that early can fool almost every parent out there into thinking it's good old clean fun…or some crap like that." Ino laughed.

"Don't you have to take your sister around the neighborhood?" Neji asked, sipping his Starbucks at a stagnant pace. The caffeine hadn't gotten into his system yet.

"Thank God! I mean, hello! How can you _not _let your daughter go to a party after she's been nothing but an angel for two whole weeks?" He shrugged in acknowledgment.

"Oh, look. If it isn't the Sunshine Committee coming to brighten up our day. Smile, children." Tenten grumbled.

She was referring to Gaara and the rest of the drugged up students who were in fact headed right toward them. Sakura could feel everyone glancing heavily over at her from the corners of their eyes. She chose to fake ignorance and dig through her bag for her...graphing calculator?

"Morning." His husky voice greeted her.

She sucked up whatever courage had to be conveniently floating in the air and looked up to smile at her Europe-traveling friend. He was looking as casually bangable as usual in a pair of barely loose jeans and a _Metallica _tee. Not even a lifetime supply of Coach purses would get her to admit that the cigarette dipping from his lips looked beyond acceptable. It looked hot. A mental groan echoed inside her head.

"Hey, mind tossing me your lighter?" Haku's slightly feminine voice etched in.

Without taking his eyes off of hers, Sasuke handed over his red lighter to the silky-haired kid. A small whisper of a chill crawled down her spine. Her friends were extremely uncomfortable with them being there in their territory instead in the dark corner of the high school universe they occupied five days a week. Apparently, Sasuke had noticed their defensive auras and glanced back at his new friends. They seemed to pick up on the vibe and trudged away. Sakura watched him carefully as he descended into a crouch in front of her. She subconsciously tugged at her high-waisted pink skirt to desperately cover the tops of her knees. He cupped his hands over hers and leaned in slowly. His lips made contact with her cheek, a respectable distance from her lips. When he pulled back, he had one of his sincere smiles that she could recall seeing only once or twice. She couldn't help but smile back.

"Dude, can you please, you know, go?" Neji asked with an edge.

Sasuke seemed to ignore him entirely and winked at Sakura before trailing after Kankuro who had been waiting nearby.

_-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --_

Her stomach was like a beast, a parasite inside of her attempting to tear itself apart after being ignored for the past hour or so. She slumped over her desk, cursing the world for its lack of sympathy on her hunger. It's always the world's fault. The long suffering was on its last leg, the bell moments away from joyously releasing the students from their classrooms. Once it did sound off, she literally shoved all her books into her tote and ran out of the room before the teacher could even yell for her to grab a detention slip.

The table filled up fast, all of them lucky enough to have gotten a good spot in the lunch line. Hinata was blushing and fumbling her fingers as Naruto carried over her food before sitting down with a smile. Sasuke came by and casually filled the gap between Sakura and Hinata.

"Hey," He smirked.

Sakura smiled a little back and took a bite of her burrito.

"Aren't you headed off to sit with those guys?" She asked as uninterestedly as she could.

"In a minute. I couldn't bear to deprive you of my amazingness for too long." He teased.

"Bastard, you gonna drink that?" Naruto asked, leaning over for his unopened milk.

"Depends. You want it?" He asked.

"Duh."

"Oops. Sorry. I just got a sudden craving for milk." He grinned at the pouting blond and chugged the small container.

"Sasuke!" Sakura scolded.

"What? Is it dripping?" He asked.

She sighed and wiped off a bead of the milk from his chin with her thumb. For a second, she saw that warm smile he shared with her that morning. Her stomach fluttered and her heart soared...until Naruto ambushed him into a choke hold. Of course.

"That was so mean! I really wanted that, you know! Now gimme milk! NOW!" Naruto whined, heads turning in their direction all at once.

"You know, I guess these kind of feelings were inevitable. We've been such good friends and live together, too. Naruto, I'm sorry." Sasuke calmly told him from his position.

Naruto froze in confusion, as did the watching students. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"If you're gay for me, it's okay. We can work it out." Silence engulfed the campus, Naruto slowly computing what his friend just said.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" He jumped away from the guy and hugged Hinata tightly. "Don't listen to him! Please don't fall for his evil plan to make you think I'm gay so he can have you all to himself! Please, Hinata! Don't!"

"Uhm, okay?" She squeaked.

"Naruto, she's suffocating." Ino sighed.

"Oh, oops." He let go and sat back down. Soon enough, all the onlookers looked away, no longer finding any entertainment from the group.

"Well, as much fun as this has been, I'm gonna go. See ya." Sasuke got up and shuffled off to The Corner.

"I've had enough." Neji growled. Until then, he hadn't said a word.

"Then stop eating." Naruto laughed at his own joke. Just him.

Neji ignored him. "He can't keep sitting with us and then go off with _them._"

"He has other friends, big deal." Naruto scoffed.

"It wouldn't matter to me if they were anyone else. The fact that they happen to be the worst of the worst is another story. I'm fed up with all of the damn gossip spreading about us being involved as well." Sakura's stomach knotted up. She could tell where he was going with this again.

"Well, you do make a good point. Coach has been really on my ass about that guy. I had to take two random drug tests already. So troublesome.." Shikamaru bit into his apple.

"See? Nothing but shit!" Neji hissed. Tenten held his hand to calm him a bit.

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little?" Sakura piped in.

"With all of the stories going around about you, you really are going to defend him? Sakura, really?" Neji was staring disbelievingly at her.

"Dude, chill out. I know Sasuke well enough to say he's not doing anything. Just let this pass by and it'll all be good." Naruto offered.

"No! It's not all good! He's making a mockery of us and I won't allow some punk to make us into a joke! That's final!" Neji proclaimed.

No one spoke after that.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Hey, you busy now?" Zabuza asked as they trudged back outside after eighth period.

"Nah, I go to Sakura's place Monday." Sasuke explained.

"Cool, you can come hang with us." Gaara grinned lightly.

The two led Sasuke down a few blocks to an old grocery store that was going to be remodeled into a shopping center. The building appeared to have been closed for months. They walked around the place and into the parking lot behind. Buildings were towering all around and there wasn't a person or open window in sight. Sitting down on a parking block, Gaara pulled out a zip lock of marijuana. Zabuza took it from him and began rolling it up.

"Want one?" He offered.

"I," He paused just before accepting it, remembering his promise to Naruto and Sakura.. "I'm good. I'll just stick with my smokes."

"Your loss." Zabuza shrugged and he and Gaara lit their sticks up.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Please tell me you've heard." Ino begged, clutching Sakura's shoulders.

"That it's very early in the morning and that I need to get to pulling my textbook from my locker? Why, yes. But you're kind of stopping me."

"Sasuke was smoking pot behind the old grocery!" She whispered.

"What..?" Her voice was barely audible.

"Someone saw him with Gaara and Zabuza yesterday there. They snuck around and saw them all smoking and the bag of weed. There's even a picture going around."

"Oh my God.." Sakura leaned back against the lockers and tried to look away from the other students walking by that obviously had already known.

All morning she avoided him, not at all sure what to say. Fortunately, she ran into Naruto as he was on his way to the bathroom.

"Did you know?" She asked.

"Know what? What everyone's talking about? Not a clue, really. The usual, right?"

"Wrong. Someone saw Sasuke smoking pot with Gaara and Zabuza." She looked down, really trying to hold back her frustrated tears.

"What the hell? Look, it's just a rumor. He wouldn't-"

"There are pictures." She mumbled.

He put his hand on her shoulder and lifted her chin. "Hey," He smiled. "its gonna be okay. Trust me."

She nodded, her voice lost in her throat. He gave her a pat on the back before running off. The bell rang, ordering her to get to class on time or face detention for sure.

Naruto ran to the class, praying the bastard was planning on being a little late. Just as he made it to the door, he spotted the Uchiha down the hall.

"This isn't your class, idiot." Sasuke told him.

"Why'd you do it?" He growled.

"Do what?" He asked.

"Why'd you smoke the damn pot?" He was enraged and had Sasuke hooked by the collar.

"I didn't. Where'd you hear that crap?" He narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

The last bell went off. They made no acknowledgment of it.

"Rumors and pictures. You, Gaara, and Zabuza."

"I smoked my own cigarettes. They offered me and I said no." He spat.

"You better be careful. Sakura's definitely going to be taking a few hits for that."

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"So where do they get it?" The red head asked her.

"I don't know." Sakura tried to concentrate on her essay.

"How often do you smoke it?" She asked.

"I don't." She hissed.

"Suurrree.." The girl turned back around before Sakura could strangle her.

That had been happening all class. Everyone in the class was either grinning with a thumbs-up, snickering, glaring, or interrogating her like that girl. She let out a held breath when the class ended and slowly left for lunch.

On her way to the table, Neji pulled her aside.

"Sakura, Sasuke can't sit with us anymore. Is that understood?"

"What?"

"It's too much. I heard about your English class and I find it hard to believe you'd want to argue after that."

He turned to go and sit with the others and she numbly followed.

"Where's Hinata?" She asked Tenten.

"Oh, she had to work on a report in the library. Her computer crashed yesterday." She explained.

They both were obviously trying to get around the whole Sasuke topic.

"Watsup, guys." Naruto sat down next to Sakura and gave her a comforting squeeze.

Moments later, Sasuke came by with his pizza, ready to sit.

"Stop." Neji ordered.

"Stop what?" Sasuke asked, daring him to continue.

"You have already caused enough damage. We've come to the decision that you can no longer sit with us if you refuse to quit hanging with those losers." A heated glare passed between them.

"What do you mean 'we'? I haven't heard any of this!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You just got here, Naruto. You're new." Shikamaru told him.

"This is such bullshit." Naruto got up and went inside, probably to the library.

"Sakura?" Sasuke called to her. She looked down, ashamed. She didn't want to send him away, but what was she supposed to say? The rumors were giving her a headache as well as all the questions. Besides, he shouldn't be with those guys, anyways. "I see, then." With that, he walked away.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

The concluding hours of her classes were spent mulling over the proper words to say to Sasuke as soon as the bell would ring. Which, of course, it did. Dead heiress walking, stomach twisted, nerves uncontrollable. And with her bag clutched tightly at her side, she stepped outside and-

-he wasn't there. A sigh of relief broke from her lips, but a train of questions plowed through her mind as well.

She unlocked the door and kicked off her heels in the hallway, half expecting Sasuke to be in her dad's office. Her feet nimbly glazed over the floor towards the open door that revealed Mr. Haruno's office. Wait, open door? _Open_? If he was ever doing business, it was closed. Closed tight, never locked, but never questionable. So where was Sasuke?

"Hey, Daddy." She greeted, her head poking inside.

"Hey, Princess. How was your day?" She casually walked in, tracing her fingers along his glossy desk.

"Can't complain. Sasuke with you?" He was highlighting a paragraph in some fat pack of reports.

"No, I didn't see him after school. I figured he was already here or something." Mr. Haruno finally looked up, staring hard at his daughter.

"He didn't-" The phone dared to interrupt him.

"Mr. Haruno, speaking." He deadpanned into the speaker. His mood had obviously been spoiled.

"Yes," the phone was on speaker, "its Sasuke. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience and lack of notice, but a personal emergency just came up and I have to cancel today. I'll be sure to bring by the piece you need Friday, though."

"Sasuke, I hope you understand the... the weight of this sudden decision of yours. It certainly is an inconvenience. Make sure this painting is nothing less than the best. Friday. No excuses."

"Yes sir." Mr. Haruno ended the call, not bothering to reply.

"Foolish choice, really. I don't think he understands how lenient I am with him. I'm going to have to get a little bit more strict with this kid." He sighed and then looked to his girl with a smile. "Let's go get some pizza."

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

The two of them walked briskly, squinting through the biting chill. Winter seemed to be making an early arrival. Maybe. Naruto was watching his breath ghost before him in the air and looked to Sasuke to see a darker, thicker trail of breath. Obviously, it was more than his breath. It was smoke, smoke from his morning cigarette.

"Dude, you've been smoking a lot more lately. Keep it up and you'll be reeking of the crap soon."

"Yeah? Fascinating. Did you know you've been biting my ass a lot lately?"

"Chill, chill! Man, you get so PMS-y sometimes. By the way, where were you last night? I brought home some burgers from the diner, but you weren't there. In fact, I don't even remember you coming home at all." He glanced over at him suspiciously.

They walked in silence for a few beats, passing most of a block. "Well?" Naruto urged.

"I was meeting late with Mr. Haruno."

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

Down the hall, up the stairs, around the corner and there he was. There she was. There _they _were. No more than seven lockers away, they stood. She was first to move, quickly turning to her alternate route. Sasuke wasn't so ready to let her get away and followed her. She immediately noticed him closing in on her and shoved her way through the crowds, searching for someone, _anyone, _to hide behind.

"Saku-"

"Sakura! Finally! You know how long I've been waiting, having to remind all these suitors that I'm freaking dating someone?"

She nodded and glanced over at her stalker. He stood, alone and...straining? She should go and explain and-

"Dude, hey! Zabu's got this sick tattoo on his back that you have to check out! Come on!" Sasuke glanced back at her in almost the same fashion that she had before walking off with Kankuro.

He half-listened (more of a sixteenth, really.) as Kankuro jabbered on about how Zabuza got the new ink. Then he mentioned something about a party and realized he was supposed to respond.

"Sorry, what?" They spotted Zabuza at Sasuke's locker.

"Party, Halloween. Going?"

"Sure." He shrugged.

"Cool." he grinned, "Alright, Zabuza. Let's see that bad boy!"

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

Orange, black and all neutral colors alike coated the students on the thirty-first. Cotton cobwebs and tissue paper ghosts were draped from the ceilings and plastic pumpkins littered teacher desks. The not-uniformly uniforms were the compromised outcome voted upon by the students and teachers. Students wanted costumes, teachers wanted conservative structure. So, as a compromise, they settled on a dress code similar to Casual Friday, except costume accessories were allowed and they had to be neutral tones or orange. It _was _fall, after all...

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto yelled, despite the few feet away from her he was.

"Oh," Sakura winced, sipping at her thermos of tea. "Naruto. Hi." She grumbled. Mornings shouldn't involve loud voices, she decided. Therefore, he was to be avoided before lunch if possible.

"Listen, what's with your dad lately? I mean, it was his idea to go to school, so why is he keeping him so late all the time? There's no way he'll keep his grades up much longer like this, no matter how much of a genius he may be." Sakura took a moment to take in his neon orange shirt with black stripes horizontally interrupting the bright color. Not just that, though. No, he had black jeans, more neon orange on his converse and a black scarf around his neck.

"Wait, what? Sasuke at my place all week?" She narrowed her eyes, making the assumptions in her mind Naruto was just proving to be true.

"I mean, Sasuke's working real hard at _home_ for him on those painting thingies. Seriously, you should see that shit. It's awesome." He could only pray that she'd buy it.

"I don't buy it, Naruto. But fortunately for you, I don't have time for this. See ya." She shook the thoughts from her mind and walked off in her new ivory sweater dress and black boots, which, she _so _thanked Daddy for yesterday.

Naruto cheerfully waved her off, but as soon as she turned around, his expression soured. Sasuke was up to something, and he had a fairly good idea what it was. Sakura apparently did, too. It was all a matter of getting to the bottom of it first. Before Sakura, before her dad, before the school, and definitely before the cops.

Hours later, Naruto got that call from a certain Mother Nature and figured he should answer her. He shuffled through the vacant halls, slowly passing by the tame classrooms of bored children. He rounded the corner, ready to take a leak when, he noticed two guys already in there, voices recognizable. His instincts convinced him to stop short of the bathroom and peak in. What, or rather who he saw was Sasuke and Gaara. Wait, what was Gaara handing over? A bag? A bag of what..? Greenish brown, thick..weed... Mother Nature was going to be put on hold, apparently.

Last period, the two had class together. Naruto was in the back of the room while Sasuke was seated in the very front by the door. When the bell rang, Sasuke was already out the door when Naruto got up to grab his bag. Still, he caught up outside. Sasuke had taken to walking around the side of the school instead of the main entrance like everyone else, so when Naruto got to him, no one was really around. So what did he do? Nail him to the wall, of course.

"What the fuck, Naruto!" Sasuke hissed.

"You tell me! I thought you weren't doing the drugs, bastard!" He growled.

"I'm not! Now chill and back off!" He demanded fiercely.

"Then what's this?" He shoved his hand in Sasuke's jacket he had on all day and ripped out the bag Gaara had handed him.

Suddenly the bag was pulled from his fingers and not by Sasuke, but by Zabuza. The older student glared down at him, his already menacing features contorting into one of imminent doom in the blonde's future. He wouldn't admit it even to Hinata that at that moment, he was so scared that if Zabuza had commanded him to bark, like hell he'd be on his knees yapping like a bitch.

The two started to walk off and Naruto snapped out of his moment of complete shock. In fact, some bystanders would tell you he just plain _snapped._ He had run after them, yelling for the cowards to come back. Apparently, Zabuza wasn't in the greatest of moods either, because he turned and aimed to punch Naruto. He barely missed when Naruto stumbled back. He too, took a swing that was blocked. Neji and Shikamaru had run over and held Zabuza back before he could permanently distort Naruto's face.

The crowds drawn to the fight glared at the black-clad group members. Sasuke stared at Naruto, actually a glow of fear in his eyes. Sakura watched from the huddle of bodies, invisible to everyone. Though she was a little shaken about Naruto, she found that couldn't take her eyes off of Sasuke.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Please, Naruto. I really would like it if you'd go with me." Hinata pleaded, her arm around his waist.

"Okay, okay.." He walked her to the door and held her hands in front of them. "But only because it's you, sweetie." Her adorable smile made him smile right back and he leaned in for a sweet kiss.

"Naruto..." She sighed happily and hugged him.

"Hey, remember! I'm going for you, not them." He pouted.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

The music pounded as the flood of costumed teens poured into the house that was already bursting at the seams. Ino was already on her fourth beer by the time Sakura came in with Tenten and Neji. She bitterly laughed at the unsurprising nurse outfit she was barely dressed in as she assaulted Shikamaru's mouth. He had on a doctor's coat with bloodstains and a stethoscope dangling from his neck. Obviously, Ino wanted even her boyfriend to match her outfit.

Tenten, in her pirate outfit and amazingly high heeled boots walked her princely (Get it? He's a prince.) boyfriend towards the speakers to dance. Sakura immediately texted Hinata, not having anyone to hang with at the moment. She mingled a little here and there, receiving many compliments for her cute fairy costume. She would curtsy her bright pink skirt and thank them, being sure to return the compliment.

A hand clamped onto her waist and her heart fluttered excitedly, thinking it was Sasuke. But in fact, it was Naruto, with his other arm wrapped affectionately around Hinata's shoulders.

"Hinata, you look so cute!" Sakura cooed, obviously approving of her Cleopatra getup.

"Well, I love your wings! The glitter is amazing with these lights." Hinata gushed right back.

"Isn't anyone going to compliment me on my outfit?" Naruto pouted.

"Sorry, Naruto." Sakura apologized lightly. "Your devil suit is _very _cool."

"Thank you!" He cheerily chirped.

Yes, cheerily chirped. It's catchy, okay?

"I'm gonna get us some drinks." He told Hinata.

"Thanks," Sakura yelled at his back sarcastically, "it's okay, though. I'm not thirsty anyways."

"So how's it going with Sasuke?" The Hyuuga asked.

"I actually haven't spoken to him since Neji did the whole, uh, you know.." She trailed off.

"Yeah, I get you." Hinata covered.

"Here you go." Naruto handed over a cup of punch to his girlfriend. "So I'm gonna go say hi to a few people, but I'll be back, okay?"

"Sure, I was actually going to steal her away from you for a bit, anyways." Sakura confessed.

Naruto walked away from the chattering girls with only one face in mind: Sasuke. He scanned the crowds, finding it a bit of a challenge to recognize a few people in their costumes. It shouldn't have shocked him when he saw it, but it still did. Sasuke was exchanging half a bag of weed for a clip of bills.

Naruto stormed up to his best friend and dragged him back a few steps in his slick vampire outfit. He glowered at the blond devil but kept his cool.

"Can I help you?" He asked dryly.

"I don't know, but you certainly helped _him._" He shot back, gesturing to the happy customer. "What are you doing?"

"None of your business." He turned away.

"Sasuke, dude, you're my best friend, my brother. This isn't you, come on."

"Look, I'm not hurting anyone," he patted his shoulder, "so relax."

"Not hurting anyone? What about Sakura?"

"Hey, hold up. She's been avoiding me forever now."

"She's confused. I haven't seen her with Neji or the others much either. When it comes down to it, those are really the only friends she has. She's not just gonna drop all that she's known for one guy she's not so sure about."

"Hn."

"So what's with all the lies, huh?" He took a swig of his beer. "You haven't been going to work. At least, not with Sakura's dad."

"Naruto," Sasuke growled dangerously, "drop it."

He fixed his silk black shirt and made sure it was tucked in right. The dark eyeliner increased the silent threat in his glare as his eyes lingered on Naruto's before he turned to catch Zabuza in his chainsaw massacre costume.

"Listen," He started, "we need to talk."

Zabuza put down the beer and got ready for the news.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

Gaara walked by in his zombie clothes, which consisted of a tight black shirt with multiple rips and a pair of equally destroyed jeans with combat boots. Oh, and more than the usual inch of eyeliner. Hinata and Sakura were almost repelled by him like the matching sides on two magnets.

"So you guys aren't..?" Hinata asked, referring to Sasuke.

"No, not at all." Sakura quickly answered, more to herself.

"I'm back." Naruto announced, hands on Hinata's shoulders.

"And I'm out. Can I have that? Thanks." Sakura breathed out, stealing Naruto's new beer.

"Sakura, you okay?" Hinata called.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go say hi to a few people. Have fun, go!" Sakura laughed.

"Okay, see you around, I have my phone."

Sakura turned for the thick strands of people and squished her way through. She caught up with a girl from her math and then later witnessed a guy puking on a sofa. Deciding it was time for some air, she squeezed to the door and made it out, fluttering wings still in tact.

The body glitter on her arms sparkled as she descended the stairs on the porch down into the lawn. A few people were outside, laughing at a joke, quietly cuddling or just doing what she was doing: wandering without a thing to do.

Of all the nights, all the nights she actually didn't have a thing to do, a thing to watch, read or write... It had to be Halloween night that she was sorta soul searching. Would it be soul searching? Whatever. That would be another question for another night. She'd have to write it down for when she'd be stuck with an inevitable night of boredom that likes to ambush everyone on the occasion.

So there she was, leaning against the most perfect white picket fence, trying to figure out who she was and who she wanted to be. Or, more specifically, who she wanted to be _with. _She kicked a lonely beer can with her heel and cursed not so quietly when more than a few drops spurted out at her.

She always was friends with the same people her whole life. Hinata had been by her side since day one of third grade, so she kind of knew Neji all along. Ino came into the picture in middle school as well as Tenten. High school gave her Shikamaru, Lee and everyone else. She realized that she never dared to travel far past the classmate level with really anyone else. That is... except Sasuke. But he's always an exception.

Sasuke was amazing, she couldn't help but admit. He was kind, gentle, protective, charming... But now, he's added the title of 'druggie' to the list. He was also hanging with the worst people who were only helping him in his grave-digging. He meant a lot to her and watching him go down like this hurt.

"What are _you _doing out here all alone?" A girl in a red geisha kimono asked casually. Sakura recognized her to be Temari, Shikamaru's ex.

"Just taking in some air. Gets kinda stuffy inside after a while."

"Sure," She replied, obviously not buying it. "So, are you with Sasuke or what?"

"Oh, no. I mean, I'm not saying it like I hate his guts or anything, but we're not together."

"Hm. That's cool, I guess." They both leaned there in neither a too awkward or comfortable silence, but obviously for one reason or another didn't move from it.

"So," Sakura started, "why'd _you _come out here?"

"I saw a hot guy out here but then as I was getting closer, he puked. I didn't want to look like an idiot who made a mistake, so I made it look like I was headed to you all along."

"I feel special."

"You should. Now that I've given you the truth, spill."

"Okay, well, I just don't know what I'm doing." She shrugged.

"No one does." The blond told her, not necessarily intending for it to sound deep.

"But," She fiddled with her black leotard top. "I really think I should."

"That sucks."

"Yeah..." She sighed, feeling absolutely pathetic.

"Hey, cheer up! Come on, let's go get plastered! Seriously, you shouldn't be so tense." She offered excitedly.

"That's okay. I'm good."

"Whatever, your loss. Don't be offended if I can't remember this Monday!" She strut her stuff back inside, her sights on a keg.

She too, head back towards the door, but she wasn't planning on hitting the alcohol. She just felt like going back in. Nothing better to do, right?

More couples were sucking face now, ruining their makeup and ruffling their costumes. There was no sign of Hinata or Naruto inside, but as soon as she hit the back porch, she spotted them in the backyard under a tree. Hinata was sitting between his legs as he repeatedly left butterfly kisses all over the exposed patches of skin.

Sakura took the stairs up and found Neji and Tenten in a bedroom while Shikamaru and Ino were nowhere to be found. She quickly figured he took her back to his place or somewhere. One room was actually empty of party people, so she quickly went in to claim it as her territory. Why? Because she could.

It was a basic bedroom with a dresser and closet, nothing special, nothing horrible. She sat on the bed and composed a few texts that she'd never send. She was so incredibly bored, it was horrible. She groaned in her misery. Her pink hair splayed out around her head as she laid down.

"You drunk?" A deep voice asked.

She looked up and saw Sasuke at the door. Upon her looking up, he walked in and closed the door behind him. The room was illuminated by a lone lamp on a night table, giving it a soft yellow glow. He hesitantly sat on the bed, hands in his lap. She sat up next to him, not sure what to say.

"Are you mad at me?" He asked.

"No, I'm just a little confused." She laughed at herself.

"Neji still holding your leash?" He looked up at her.

"That's sorta what I'm confused about... Why'd you tell Naruto that you've been spending nights working with my dad?"

Cornered.

"Okay, just listen. I was selling stuff with Gaara and-"

"What!? Sasuke, you know how dangerous that is!? Ohmigod, and illegal! You could go to jail and-"

"You're drinking. That's illegal, too." He pointed out.

"Still! Selling drugs!" She yelled, her face creasing with concern.

"You didn't let me finish." He waited for her to calm down. "I told them a little while ago that I was done selling. I just didn't want to get too involved."

"And that's it? You're done?"

"Are you?"

"With what?"

"With ignoring me."

"Yeah."

"Good." He pulled her into a hug, swinging her legs over his lap to bring them closer.

She began to cry a little. "Sasuke, I missed you."

"I missed you, too." He whispered into her hair.

And then the door slammed open.

"Well, well. Trick or treat?"

* * *

**See? Now you're all set for next week. How about you send me an early Halloween candy? Oh, darn. This is a computer. What ever shall we do? Hey, I have an idea! What if you didn't send me candy at all? Gasp, I know, this is insane. What if... What if you sent me a review instead? See? See? Now you don't have to mess around with mailing an envelope or getting a stamp or figuring out first how many stamps you'd need. Just click that adorably annoying button at the bottom and review. Give it a try, it won't bite back. No matter how hard you click it, it won't fight back. **

**...What a pacificist.**

**-**

**-**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	9. Suck with Pride

**I wanna start by apologizing for the delay. Hey, better than a month or so, right? My excuses are pretty lame, but completely honest: parties, friends, house renovation/destruction, Planet Fest concert (this weekend. it was hinder, puddle of mudd, shinedown, red, rehab, red jumpsuit apparatus and a hell of a lot of local jacksonville bands.), my friend was ODing and I was helping his sister cope with it. **

**Yeah, so maybe my excuses aren't that lame after all. I'm a frickin' teenager like the majority of you are, so don't roll your eyes at the screen. Mhm. I went there. **

**WARNING: THE CHAPTER YOU ARE ABOUT TO CONSUME THROUGH YOUR EYES HAS NOT BEEN EDITED BY MY EVER-SO-WONDERFUL EDITOR PERSON. EVER-SO-WONDERFUL EDITOR PERSON, I'M SORRY I DIDN'T SEND THIS TO YOU. I PROMISE TO SEND THE NEXT ONE. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!**

**Oh, and btw, if you're like me and tend to forget what happened the chapter before after, say, I don't know... an hour? I advise you take a peak at the end of the last chapter before you continue on your way 'cause it seriously jumps right back on from where it stopped.**

* * *

Suck with Pride.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- & -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

Sakura wrapped her fingers into his dark sleeve and pressed her cheek into his shoulder. His hand, first protectively tight under her arm, loosened to a relaxed hold.

"Sasuke..." She murmured subconsciously.

"Haku, what's up." He greeted his friend in the Grim Reaper costume. He gracefully approached them and stared amusedly at the two.

"Am I interrupting?" He asked, barely holding in a laugh.

"Had you been a few seconds later, then probably." Sasuke explained.

Sakura slapped his arm. "You wish!"

"Like hell I do." He laughed.

"So, listen. I heard from Zabu that you're out?" He didn't seem mad, just genuinely curious.

"Yeah," He shifted Sakura off of his lap and fixed his pants which weren't perfectly perfect anymore. Darn. "I just have enough to work on now with my art." He smiled at Sakura who seemed quite pleased.

"That's fine, I guess. No offense, but isn't your master guy gonna get pissed your with Sasuke right now?" Haku asked Sakura, twirling his plastic scythe around.

"Oh. Well... I don't think it's any of his concern." She told him, shrugging her shoulders.

"You're not with them anymore?" He asked, a little shocked.

"What? No, I'm still friends with them. I just.."

"She's tired. A little bit of alcohol and she really doesn't have a clue about what she's saying." Sasuke filled in, pulling her to his side.

"Whatever, Uchiha. I'm going to go with Kankuro to buy some more stock. I think Zabuza wants to talk to you when you find the time." He waved at them in a farewell and smiled kindly at Sakura before leaving.

"So," Sasuke turned to her, alone again. "mind telling me what's going on now?"

"I thought it was pretty clear already. I don't know.. I want to stay friends with you but I'm still best friends with the others. I can't just forget about them." She fell back, covering her eyes with her hands.

"How about you forget about everyone for a little bit and focus on," He crawled to her side, "on us."

She looked up, blinking a few times. There was no trace of sarcastic humor in his features, just a hint of his smile. Her stomach went numb with nervousness as he brushed back a stray hair of hers. His eyes were soft, focusing only on her. He pulled the sheets from under her and covered her up to her neck. She wanted to speak up but found herself unable to utter even a word.

He lifted the covers over himself and pulled her closer. She stiffened immediately. He sighed, realizing this wasn't going to be as easy as he had wanted it to be. No, of course not. Sex was definitely high in his mind, but that wasn't on his current "Things To Do" list. Now she's freaking out, thinking he'll rape her. That's as fine as a vase full of fucking daisies, now isn't it?

"Relax, would you? I'm not going to try anything." He told her.

"I just haven't been this close to a guy before. I think I have the right to get nervous." She defended hotly.

"Hn. Fine, fine. I'm not gonna rape you. I'm not _that_ screwed up." She could feel his voice vibrate through his chest as she hesitantly let her head rest on it.

"Okay.." She exhaled deeply, trying to calm down. Part of her was freaking out because she was laying in bed with Sasuke. The other part of her was freaking out because she was laying in bed with Sasuke. In a good way. There's a difference!

Her legs gently touched his and he smirked into her hair as he wrapped them together. She felt herself melt into him, the warmth felt fantastic and addicting. As she unconsciously leaned into him, he pulled her into his chest and wrapped her in a cocoon of blankets and limbs. His mind went through a handful of ways he could easily get what he was...craving, but pushed it to the back of his mind. She didn't deserve to have her innocence stolen. He would be better.

"Hey, Sakura..?" He mumbled into her hair.

"Hm?"

"Lookufifoownakssmeh."

"What?" She lifted her head up to hear him. His lips fit right onto hers.

She was shocked, her mind was taking a few seconds to process this 'WTF' moment. Then after _that_ was straightened out, she began to feel it. Her heart felt so light and fluttery, her cheeks heating up tremendously. She didn't know what to do, though. She was so worried about what to do with her mouth she began to panic in her head. Move, not move, open, close, up, down, on, off, left, right..! What next?

She felt him slowly begin to move his lips against hers and she tried copying him, enjoying the soft plush-like feel of him. She was worried now over what was going to happen next. Was he going to put his tongue in? Should she accept it? What happens if she doesn't? What if she does? His tongue lightly swiped at her bottom lip but then went back into his mouth. He then slowly pulled back, staring into her vivid green eyes.

"I said, 'look up if you want to kiss me.'" He said, a small smirk on his lips again.

"Oh.. I didn't hear you." She looked away, shyness coming out.

He watched her for a few seconds, unable to figure out why she was behaving so strangely. "Was.. that your first kiss?" He asked carefully.

"Sorta.." She mumbled.

"Sorta?" He asked.

"Well, it was." She confessed, still no eye contact.

A wave of pride washed over him. "Good. I promise it won't be your last." She smiled up at him finally.

"I was kinda bad, wasn't I?" She asked.

"Well.. You were really nervous. Next time," He placed his lips on hers and began sucking on her bottom lip. "just let yourself go."

He grinned when he saw her cheeks darken a little. "I just don't want to suck at this.."

"By all means, go ahead and suck. Suck till you can't suck anymore." She groaned with a smile and buried her face in his chest.

She didn't deserve to have her innocence stolen, but he sure wouldn't mind her giving it to him.

"I really don't want to move," She started, "but we can't stay up here for too much longer."

He groaned in protest. "Let's go back to my place, then." He suggested, losing his fingers in her hair.

The first thing that came to her mind was the two of them alone in his room, the door locked and her being straddled on the bed. "I don't think that'd be the best idea."

"Sakura, I really find it hard to believe that you still don't trust me after all this time." He narrowed his eyes at her, making it hard to stare back.

"It's not that, Sasuke. I just don't think I'd be that comfortable." She sat up, pushing the sheets off of her.

"Hn." He grunted before standing to fix his shirt.

"Don't be so childish, okay? I really... I really think I like you." He looked over at her, watching her focus on her fingers. "I don't want to ruin this over something as shallow as sex."

A few beats went by. "So I'm really the first guy you've kissed?" He asked softly.

"Yeah.." She was really beginning to feel embarrassed.

He hid his smile and leaned over to kiss her. He cupped the back of her neck with his thumb nuzzled behind her ear. She felt more comfortable this time as he simply held his smooth lips to hers. Her hand lightly touched his forearm, yearning for that gentle intimacy. He pulled back and kissed her cheek.

"I think I really like you, too." His voice was soft, his breath slightly refreshing from a mint he probably had before. "More than any other girl. I think I'll wait as long as you'd like until you're ready."

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." She looked down at their intertwined fingers. She didn't recall knotting them together, but that wasn't the issue at hand. Ha ha, hand. Get it?

"For what? Making me wait for sex?" He laughed. "I'll get over it eventually, I guess. I'm just so used to getting it right away that it's just a new concept, really."

She bristled at his words. "I'm not your whore." She spat gravely.

"Exactly! And that's the only thing I've really known. I'm happy to be with you, Sakura. I really am." He stared into her eyes, desperately trying to project his feelings into her. ...Even if that did sound extremely corny.

"Me too." She leaned over the tiny distance between them and securely wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Come, let's go back to the party." He guided her to the door by her fingers.

"I don't think they'll be too happy about this.." She bit her lip in doubt.

"I don't think they matter," He countered, "and if they do, then they'll be happy."

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Holy crap," Ino scratched at Shikamaru's shoulder, "Sakura!"

Said friend was currently dancing with a certain forbidden enemy and -ohmigod- they just kissed. Shikamaru was laughing, but Ino wasn't sure if he was laughing at the new Romeo and Juliet or maybe the hard liquor sloshing in his system. Whatever, though.

She scanned the crowd and saw the white-eyed senior contently grinding with his girlfriend across the room. Being Sakura's best friend, she immediately squished her way over to her to give her the heads-up. But seriously, that girl should know better. There wasn't a doubt in her blond head that Neji would kick her ass -figuratively, of course- if he saw them at it.

"Hey, guys." She greeted them. "Need a rubber?" Her smile was sarcastically sweet.

"Uh, hi. Look," Sakura started, but Sasuke stopped her.

"Ino, Sakura's free to choose what she thinks is best for-" Aaannd Ino interrupted him.

"Yeah, yeah. Stop dumping the crap already. I came here to see if you're alright in the head because duh, Neji's gonna see you and I wanted to make sure you were aware of that."

"I am. And, well, I think I'll be okay." Sakura smiled and wrapped her arm around Sasuke's waist.

"Suit yourself, sweetums. How are you planning on getting home?"

"I'm taking care of that detail." Sasuke provided with his arm slung over Sakura's shoulders.

"Cool. Well, good luck. It seems he's spotted you." Ino sing-songed at the end before not so casually scampering off.

"What's with the PDA?" Neji asked coldly.

"Isn't it common for couples?" Sasuke asked with faked naivety.

"Yes. Couples. Which, I didn't know you two were." He glared down at Sakura, forcing her to shrink back a bit.

"I guess you do now, then. If you'd excuse us, kind sir, we'll be taking our leave." Sasuke began to walk away with Sakura under his arm until Neji latched onto hers.

"Neji..!" She squeaked.

"If this is what you're reducing yourself to, don't you dare show your face at lunch again." He glowered, venom practically dripping from his words.

"Get off of her, bastard." Sasuke ordered, smacking his hand away.

"Make me, shit face."

And his fist flew. Neji's, that is. Sasuke had moved to stand in front of Sakura and the enraged Hyuga was only provoked by Sasuke's lack of hesitation or fear. The fist made contact with Sasuke's cheek, causing him to lose his balance for a minute. Sakura screamed and the crowd caged them in like lions.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried.

"I'm alright, it's nothing. That punch wasn't as impressive as he prepared it to be, I guess." He smirked at Neji's tightened jaw.

"Just back away from the bitch and fight me, Uchiha." Now it was Sasuke's turn to clench his very sore jaw.

"What'd you just call her?" Sasuke asked.

"A bitch. A whore. A loser who I guess is as low as you now." Sasuke had heard enough from the prick and nailed Neji with his own fist. Unlike Neji's, it was as painful as it looked. Neji's yelp guaranteed it.

"So where does that put you? Rock bottom?" Sasuke asked, pulling Sakura away.

The crowd split an opening for the two to leave, barely paying attention to Neji as Tenten ran over to tend to his bruised and bleeding nose. Sasuke and Sakura were out the door now. The fresh air made it seem like they were swimming for hours without surfacing. His lungs cleaned themselves of the muggy party air and relaxed. When Sasuke looked over at Sakura, he noticed her crying, silent tears quivering down her cheeks. He pulled her over to the side of the house and wrapped her in his arms securely. As soon as he did, she began sobbing recklessly.

"I..! It's all my fault! Naruto, you, Neji! All..All of you guys are getting hurt and fighting because of me!" She continued to cry into his neck. "I'm so sorry.."

"It's okay, Sakura. Relax, relax.." He pulled her down as he sat with his back against the side of the house.

"It's not! God! I..!" He blocked her mouth his hand, staring hard into her eyes.

"You did nothing wrong. Stop it." She calmed down and dropped her weight back into his chest. He held back a grunt from the impact. She certainly wasn't a cow, but it wasn't like she was a like a slip of paper either.

"Let's get you home."

* * *

**Yes, yes. Not all that long, but I updated. Sorry for any sloppy parts I didn't get a second opinion on. I didn't even read it over myself, to be honest. So... who's got Thanksgiving plans? My birthday is the day after, which kinda sucks... I think I'm gonna get some Twilight tickets early and take a bunch of friends to see it. Hmm, sounds good to me.**

**...I think I was just talking to myself...**

**-**

**-**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	10. Area of Expertise

**Late update blamed on lack of inspiration, time, and an overload of busyness. Not business.**

**As I know you all should know by now, drug references are frequent in this story and other writings of mine. If you don't know a term, drug, story, whatever, I'm just gonna ask you to first wikipedia it or if for some reason you find yourself unable to, I guess you can message me. I'm not gonna explain things in this, basically. It is what it is, further research isn't going to be found here unless I decide to have a character explain it sometime...**

**Enjoy and excuse the delay.**

**Oh, and lydia-chan, thank you!**

* * *

**Area of Expertise.**

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- & -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Sa-Sasuke," She panted for air, "I don't want to be late."

He grunted as he pulled away from her currently exposed and flushed neck. His eyes focused on hers and just as her face began to fall with regret and blame, he smirked. A kiss on her ravished lips brightened her expression and led to her sudden full-on hug that almost made him tumble backwards.

"If your dad walks out into the hallway right now, we'll have some explaining to do." He mumbled into her addictive hair.

"You're to blame, since you ambushed me just as I was leaving." She responded, most of her attention being focused on the warm hug.

"Come on, I thought you didn't want to be late." He teased, trying to walk towards the elevator with her still glued to him in her embrace. The result was a dignity-draining penguin waddle.

"Mhm." She _really_ was enjoying the hug. He was making a mental note to do this morning escort thing more often. That, or find out if it was the Volcom jacket or his cologne. Whatever got him more of this.

In the elevator, she peeled herself away from her new boyfriend. He cupped her hands in his own and blew into the cocoon to warm them up. Unexpected kisses on the tips of her fingers made heat rise to her cheeks as well.

"Did you eat breakfast?" She asked once they were in sight of the school.

"Nah, just some coffee." He caressed her thumb under his reassuringly.

"Sasuke, that's not healthy. They have free breakfasts in the cafeteria, so let's go get you something." She quickly scolded as she dragged him straight through the gates.

"Hold on," She was too eager. He tugged her back. "I know you care, but I really don't believe that my nutrition is the sole reason you want to get inside right away."

"Is too!" She retaliated.

His dark, calculating eyes scanned the clumps of students for a certain clique.

"Looking for someone?" A cold and arrogant voice asked.

"Unfortunately, not anymore." Sasuke replied dryly.

"Seems you two are quite happy. I can't say the same for Ino, Hinata or Tenten though." Pale, narrowed eyes watched Sakura.

"What are you talking about, Neji?" Sakura asked cautiously.

"They don't trust your innocent Sasuke very much. I mean, as soon as you left, his close friend Zabuza sold some heroin to a kid who overdosed and had to be rushed to the hospital." He shrugged, "But it's not like Sasuke could've known about that sort of thing, so they really have nothing to fear. Isn't that right, Sasuke?"

His jaw tightened as he held back what would've been the end of Neji's face. He settled for a death glare deserving of some dramatic lighting.

"You're right, I need some breakfast."

_-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --_

Her inky plum locks tickled her tinted cheeks as he lovingly held her close. She allowed her lids to fall shut as she soaked up the essence that was purely him. His fingers ran up and down her spine, leaving pleasured goosebumps behind. Her hands clutched the back of his jacket with need, a need for him always. Always and forever.

"Can we go somewhere?" His hot, wet breath heated up her neck.

"Class starts in ten minutes, I have to go to my locker and meet Sakura so-"

"No, forget your locker. Forget Sakura," He pulled back, her fingers lingered. "remember _us._"

She stood in shock, replaying those words scripted in so many gushy movies she squealed over that her boyfriend had just recited for _her._

"N-Naruto..." She whispered.

"You haven't missed any classes since.. A long time! You can afford to miss a day. I'll even get you home in time to grab the phone when the school calls!" He offered, totally pumped.

"Where did you want to go?"

"My place!"

"I think I need to grab my Physics book. Class starts in a few minutes."

"Too forward?"

_-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --_

"Sasuke, stop!" She yelled before he stormed off any farther.

"Look," He turned around to face her with his hardened features, "I didn't know about that then. I heard later, but I didn't want to tell you 'cause it didn't seem necessary or all that smart."

"I'm not mad. I'm not happy, but I'm not mad at you." She held his hands and a small grin slowly pulled at his lips. Peace. "So yeah, breakfast? I can smell the toast burning already."

"Sounds like a date."

_-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --_

"_Psst.. Inooo..._" She hissed two rows ahead.

"What?" The blonde deadpanned, turning around to her friend. The girl always did this, _always. _Even when the class was free to talk, she whispered as if her life depended on it and even if it did, she'd die. Yeah, not her area of expertise.

"Look, I wanted to talk to you about-"

"Okay, stop right there. If this is about you and Sasuke, I don't want to hear a word of it." She glared, her blue eyes hardening dramatically.

"Ino, really! You need-"

"I love you." With no students in between to block their view of each other, their stares penetrated painfully deep.

"...What?"

"I love you so much, Sakura. Do you really think I'd let Neji of all people get in the way of that? Seriously!" She giggled, which immediately Sakura joined in on.

"Alright, cool."

"Wanna grab some food after school? I'm starving."

"I know the perfect place."

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

The four of them shared a promising group hug, tears forming in their teenaged and emotional eyes. They each dabbed at the corners of their eyes, careful not to let a single drop screw up their makeup.

"I love Neji, but he's gone too far on this one." Tenten sighed.

"I know... Let's just have some fun together. We don't need to worry about this crap right now." Sakura insisted.

"You ready?" Sasuke asked from his spot against the wall.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, let's go." Sakura was never one for directions, so Sasuke was going to take them to the diner Naruto was at. He would've waited, but he knew girls tend to drag out any emotional scene they could possibly create. That, and Sasuke wanted an excuse to be with Sakura. Don't call him clingy, he's just... okay, in a clingy mood.

"Must it be so cold?" Ino muttered to no one in particular.

"I think it's nice, really." Hinata blushed. Lately she had been trying to speak her mind more often, even if that meant contradicting another.

They strolled through the loose strings of New Yorkers and down into the subway. Tenten clicked her tongue when she first spotted their car roll in, filled contently with a crowd of elderly folk. "Must be a tour day or something," She whispered to Sakura. She shrugged in agreement, seeing how they had no other choice but to wait it out standing.

A few stray seats were open and the girls were eager to take them. Sasuke and Sakura were left standing. Sasuke, being the kind-hearted boy that he was, was going to make sure she didn't mind her lack of butt support for the ride.

He stood behind her and laced his arms gently under hers. He craned his neck down a bit, his form leaning over her as he snuggled her neck. He dragged his warm lips along her chilled skin and sent a rolling wave of goosebumps down her skin. She melted into him, reveling in his cuddling.

The girls texted pervy comments back and forth while the two seemed lost in each other. "Sasuke.." Sakura mumbled on impulse. In response, he bit the junction between her neck and shoulder. "If only I could paint that on a canvas.." He breathed hungrily. She really had no idea how much she could get in his head.

They soon reached their stop and piled out. Ino and Tenten made faces at the love-drunken girl. Hinata giggled at their side.

"So Naruto is here?" Hinata asked gleefully.

"Yeah, follow me. You can surprise him." Sakura, Ino, and Tenten went through the front door while Sasuke lead Hinata around to the back entrance.

He gave a few hand signals, telling her he was right around the corner on his break. With a mocking salute, he walked off to go meet up inside.

...Now what? She stood frozen with not a single plan of action in mind. Improvisation would have to do, she figured. She crouched down in her white long sleeved boat neck and purple jeans as she prepared to peep over at her unsuspecting boyfriend. This would have to be done with amazing timing and skill or her not-set-yet plan would be foiled! Three..two...one... Breath locked in her lungs, she passed the corner and BAM! Her eyes were met by another's. His soft lips reached to hers and a chuckling breath fanned across her face.

"You're not a very good spy, you know." He teased.

"I guess I should avoid that booth on career day, then." He pulled her over to him and onto his lap as he sat on a sturdy crate. Her skin felt almost like ice against his, so he immediately opened his obnoxiously bright orange and black striped hoodie and cradled her inside. She leaned into his warmth and couldn't help but smile.

"You really should wear heavier clothing," she nuzzled her cheek into his chest as he kept talking, "you're gonna turn into an ice cube and Sasuke'll wanna carve you into something."

"I'm sorry.." He tilted her chin up at the words.

"Never be sorry," And a stomach fluttering kiss sealed their lips.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Why is he standing out there?" Tenten pointed over to Sasuke, his back to the door.

"His cigarettes, duh." Ino huffed in disgust. "I'm all for you and Sasuke, but that's just gross."

"I know... I'm always nagging him about it, too." Sakura confessed.

"Then bargain. No cigarettes or no sex." The blonde crossed her arms with a smug grin. Sakura started choking on her hot chocolate. "What? Are you _that _hooked on it that you can't give it up for a while?" She continued incredulously.

"You idiot," Tenten laughed, "she's not having sex with him."

"Well, you _should._ Then you have the higher hand."

"Ino, that's like, prostitution!" Sakura scorned.

"Hey, I like this conversation. Let me in!" Naruto begged.

"Ugh.. Hinata, I don't even wanna ask why him of all men..." Naruto ignored the other blue-eyed blonde and scooted Hinata in between her and himself.

"So why were you talking about prostitution? Considering it?" He asked excitedly. Hinata sighed and Naruto comfortingly rubbed her knee as a reassurance for her to know he was only kidding around.

"Ino thinks I should start having sex with Sasuke and then give him the ultimatum of sex or cigarettes."

"Brilliant!" Naruto shouted.

"Hey, genius! Get your ass back here, your break's over!" A fat man called from the kitchen.

"Damn ass wipe." He kissed Hinata lightly before heading back to the kitchen.

"What'd I miss?" Sasuke asked, sitting next to Sakura.

"Nothing, really. Just Naruto getting in trouble." She told him.

"As usual. Hey, I'm gonna head out so you guys can have your girl talk or whatever."

"Okay. I'll call you later." Her lips were stuck in a smile that only would reveal itself to Sasuke.

"Bye, baby." He cupped her cheek and swiftly got a taste of her. "Mm.. Hot chocolate.." They waved him off as he walked out again.

"He's so into you. You have to do it." Ino tried again.

"No way! Ino, I'm not ready for that! Besides," she lowered her voice to the quietest of whispers, "I would want it to be special..."

"AWW!!!!" The three choired at the same time.

"Anywho, on to Neji." Tenten prompted.

"Right. Wait, weren't we doing this so we wouldn't talk about that?"

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Finally! We were almost gonna start without you." Kankuro complained.

"Hey, I had some things to do." He could faintly smell Sakura's perfume still lingering on his jacket.

"Whatever. We don't need to wait any longer." Gaara lit the small reefer, taking in all that the marijuana released. Becoming satisfied with his high, he passed it on to Kankuro.

The teen took a heavy drag and began giggling madly. Zabuza sat down after his hit and eventually stared at his hands in pure fascination. Sasuke was last and lazily sucked at it. His mind was submerged in bliss and oblivion as everything seemed fresh and new to his eyes, absolutely amazing. Laughing echoed in his head and his pants felt like they were silky and light like cotton candy against his skin.

"Dude, let's...let's..man..." Kankuro was sputtering distractedly.

"Haha, you're sitting with us noooww...I need chippsss..." Gaara dragged on, taking another hit.

Sasuke slowly grabbed for the blue bag in the middle of them and ripped out the family size bag of Doritos. Zabuza pulled the other side of it and sloppily the bag spewed open, scattering a good portion of the bag in the dirt.

Kankuro stared up at the skeleton of the structure being built. It seemed to be dancing and melting, twisting in rhythm with the life of the air. "Feed it so it gets happy, fucker." He demanded.

"Feed your chicken, butt." One of them spat back before chomping on the cheesy chips.

After an hour or so, Sasuke wasn't completely out of it and left to go home. Back in the construction site, the guys would smoke it up for another few hours. He was still on his high and was acting as foolish as ever. He was walking into people, really didn't know where he was going... But he felt on top of the world. Who the fuck cared?

He managed to hail a cab and gave the man his address before spacing out for the ride. When the driver began yelling at him to get up and give him his cash, Sasuke handed him a twenty, not even bothering to check what the cost actually was. He climbed the stairs and slumped in the hallway by the door realizing he didn't have the right keys. He'd wait for Naruto to get home.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?" A voice asked.

"What do you mean? I'm waiting to get in. No keys." He muttered lazily.

"Yeah, this is my place and -wait a- oh my god, Sasuke. I can smell the weed on you!" It was then that Sasuke figured it wasn't Naruto since he didn't smell that sweet and would've punched him by then.

The voice had left and Sasuke drifted off to sleep.

A slam into his ribcage and a shocking wave of pain paralyzed his body. "Aghhh..!" He squealed out.

"What the fuck is your fucking deal!? You get fucking baked as hell and stop at Sakura's to crash? Fuck, Sasuke! You're so fucking lucky her dad's out of town! Get your fucking stoner ass up!" Despite the rotten and sickly pissed mood he was in, he did stand up to glare at his attacker, Naruto.

As soon as he did, he was slammed into the wall, his head smacking it unforgivingly. "You're such a fucker, you know that?" He looked over once the harsh heart-clenching pain slowed and saw Sakura crying into her hands a good ten feet away. Was she crying over him?

"Look at me, bastard! You're done! No more fucking with that weed or anything!" He dragged Sasuke in Sakura's direction. He reached for her but she only recoiled and dodged him. She ran inside and slammed the door behind her.

Once out into the biting winter air, Naruto pulled him toward a building alley. "Sasuke, how could you? You scared her out of her mind so badly. She called me crying, saying you were passed out by her door and mumbling the most random shit like a homeless bum! Dude..."

"We were taking some hits and I guess I had something else. I don't remember too much."

"Shrooms? Ecstacy? LSD? What the hell did you take?" He demanded.

"I don't remember! Let's just go."

* * *

**So here's my deal: winter break is a week away. I plan on trying to type up some stuff then. The week after, I'm going on a disney cruise..mauahhahahaaa.. I love those.. I'll be missing a week of school and that weekend I'll be studying my ass off for midterms the following Monday.**

**How does this affect you as a reader? I don't really know. Maybe just that an update will be as unpredictable as a...?**

**-**

**-**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	11. Better than a Fat French Fry

**Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas and now, Happy Kwanzaa! Yay holidays!**

**If you didn't already know, you will soon figure out that I'm a Jewish girl. You know, I've never come across a Chanukah fic. Only Christmas. Not anymore! Bring on the Jews! Lmao, I can already feel a few of you ready to send me an uncomfortable review, not sure how to respond to this. Score!**

**Anywho, there's a good heaping of Yiddish, so I kindly put the translation in as well. If you don't think the word is right, Google it. This is my holiday gift to you guys. I'll just say it now, there won't be an update by New Year's, so yeah, don't expect it. This is fourteen pages, by the way. Like, five thousand words.**

**And my dear lydia, I want you to enjoy the holiday break, so don't worry about editting for awhile.**

**Let's do this bad boy!**

* * *

**Better Than a Fat French Fry**

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Purple streaked the wooden sculpture, raging into the bright red. The twisting figure was halfway done and promised a very fat Chanukah budget. He snorted, only hours ago Naruto had been searching the web for coupons, bargains, sales… an old lady in the making.

His list would be very short as usual, though he would need to be extremely sentimental and full of cash. He screwed up last night with Sakura and he needed to apologize the old fashion way: buying an unnecessarily over-priced piece of jewelry heavier than the crap load he dumped in her heart. But this time, a simple necklace, a pair of heels, a nice dinner out, none of that would patch up the mistake.

He stood back from his almost complete piece, it towering a good foot higher than himself. Maybe… Maybe he'd need to make another. Just in case.

"Bastard, you won't believe the deal I'm getting here! Seventy-five percent off an entire freaking purchase!!!" Naruto shouted.

"I'm sure." He growled, hunching over his paints.

"Hey," Naruto said quietly, shuffling over to his roommate. "Hinata called."

"Congrats." He continued brushing swirls into the base.

The blond ignored his usual snobby response. "She told me Sakura isn't mad."

He looked up, expressionless, but obviously in shock. "She… She's not mad?"

"She's scared. Of and for you." He slumped down next to him.

"What the hell do you mean she's scared of me?" He whispered, trying to maintain his cool.

"I don't know what happened to her before, Hinata wouldn't tell me. But obviously drugs really scare her. You're smarter than me, so I'm sure you can figure out the rest." He patted him hard of the shoulder before getting up to leave.

"Hey Naruto," Said teen turned to his artistic best friend, ready to accept his thank you modestly. "You need to send a mail-in rebate to get that discount. It'll probably cost more than just buying the crap."

"Shove it, asswipe."

"Up yours. Sweetie."

"I'm off now, so I'll see you for dinner." He leaned against the door frame, his arms folded across his chest.

"M'kay," She distractedly clicked away at her laptop.

"Hey. What's wrong? You've been very down all morning." He walked in and sat down on her fluffy bed awkwardly in his suit.

"I'm just PMSing, I guess." She shrugged, her dad flushing a shade brighter than her favorite lipstick.

"A-Alright, then. Take it easy for the day. I'll see you when I come home." He stood quickly after kissing the top of her head and closed the door behind him.

She snapped her laptop up and pushed it to the side. She smothered her makeup-less face into a pillow, long groan included. After about five minutes of empty thoughts, her phone began to jingle that familiar obnoxious tune.

"Hey, Ino."

"Shikamaru is taking me out for a smoothie, do you want to catch a movie or go shopping after? I found the cutest pair of flats the other day but they weren't in my size so I ordered them to the store. I also think I'm in the mood for some new perfume and-"

"Ino,"

"I love that skirt Temari had on, so I need to find a better one. She is like,"

"INO!" She yelled, her voice vibrating off the walls.

"What? I wasn't finished."

"Sasuke was at my door last night completely baked." She quietly spoke.

"Oh god, Sakura… Hey, I'm sorry. You want to talk about it?"

"I just wanna stay in today and chill. I'll talk to you later."

"Well, if you need me to beat that adorable hunk of an ass up, text me!"

"Thanks, pig."

"Smooches, dahling!"

Back to pillow smothering.

"Let's see… Sasuke," He glanced at the Xbox game wrapped in the Sunday comics with a bright red bow. "check."

His hands shoved it to the side, another box under it. "Sakura…" He giggled, a gag gift for the girl who has everything: a rainbow condom and a can of whipped cream.

"Ino, psshh!" Another gag gift, or not… An STD encyclopedia.

"Tenten gets the coolio gift." A blow up hammer, preferably to bop Ino with. Or Neji. Neji rather than Ino, he decided.

"Hinata…" He sucked in a deep breath as he held the wrapped box containing two tickets to Italy.

A knock on his door made him jump and drop the gifts back onto the bed. He jolted off of the rumpled sheets and cracked the door open. "Who goes there?" He demanded.

"It's me, Naruto." A soft voice replied.

The door swung open and in a flash, the blond tenant glomped his girlfriend. "Hinata! I was just thinking about you! Sasuke let you in, right?"

"Um, yeah. Sorry I didn't call or anything. I really should have." She stared down at her shoes shamefully.

"No, no! You're always welcome here. Hey, let's go do something..like bowling!"

"You want to go bowling?" She asked doubtfully.

"Not really, it sounded good in my head. How about a movie?" He grabbed her hand and led her into the tall living room. Sasuke was nowhere in sight, statue as well. "Sasuke gone?"

"He was leaving with a huge statue when I came in." Naruto grinned a grin larger than usual.

"So…We're aloonnee..?" He pulled her down onto the couch with him.

"Y-yeah…" Her face flamed up as he squeezed her into a bear hug.

He covered her face in butterfly kisses and laid her down onto the black leather. His kisses finally landed on her lips, the flavored lip balm encouraging to step it up. She shyly responded, a bit more reserved than usual. His tongue dipped into her mouth longingly. The hormones were heating up and his hands were becoming more daring. Still, Hinata was barely responding, if at all. He broke it off and stared into her eyes with confusion.

"What's wrong?" He shifted so he was supported on his hands and knees instead of her.

"I..I don't want to um," She fumbled for words.

"Go all the way?" He finished for her with a half-smile.

"Naruto, I'm sorry. I just-"

"Stop, Hinata. It's nothing to freak out about. I want you to be ready for it. If you don't want to have sex, that's fine. I can wait." He smiled fully then kissed her.

"Thank you." He pulled her up and with his legs crossed held her in his lap. Her hands locked gently onto his shoulder.

"Now let's pick a flick! Oh yeah! Hoot, hoot!"

"What's with you lately?" His hand squeezed hers as they walked out of the pizzeria.

"Nothing." She shrugged dismissively.

"I know it's not nothing, Tenten. Don't lie." They crossed the street, careful to dodge the crazed lunatics racing through the red light.

"It's just, you know." He quirked an eyebrow at her, obviously not knowing. "Look, Sakura's such a good friend. She's never done anything to you or anyone, actually. She should be able to date who she wants freely without anyone making her life a living hell."

"He's a complete burnout. Nothing good will come of this." He sternly explained. Two kids were rolling up snowballs to throw at cars.

"And so what if he really is? I don't think so, but in the case that he is, let her make the mistake and learn from it herself." She pulled her distracted boyfriend closer so a man loaded with a big box of ornaments could hobble by.

"Do you even hear yourself? She's dating a pot head!"

"I don't think you hear yourself, Neji!" She stopped in her tracks and turned to him with burning eyes. "Everyone knows this isn't about her safety or even your concern for our rep! You're just scared that you're losing control! Get over it!" She took a deep breath, glad to have finally gotten that off her chest.

"Here," He slapped a twenty in her palm, "catch a cab." He stormed off down the sidewalk, not even flinching when he bumped a man with bags of presents. They spilled open into the slushy snow, small boxes hitting the sidewalk with a thud. "Hey!"

"Crap," Tenten cursed, rushing to help the guy collect his purchases. "Thanks." The man sighed as he stood up.

"Sorry about that. Merry Christmas!" Tenten smirked before chasing after the Scrooge.

"Neji, stop!" She yelled, running as fast as she could in her knee-high boots. She feared the four-inch heels would snap under her.

"What do you want?" He snapped, turning to her.

"I want _you_." She admitted. "I want you to be happy and to chill out already. Everything will be fine, I promise. Plus," She giggled, "how bad can they be if you have me, huh?"

He finally broke out a grin and held her close by the arms. "Not half bad, I'm sure." His lips warmed hers more pleasantly than a mug of hot chocolate. She eagerly wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her bundled body against his.

"I'd say pretty damn good, actually."

"Stop embarrassing me."

"You? By this?" He grabbed a handful of his boyfriend's ass for the world to see.

"Stop. Now. People are watching you guys." He turned, his face reddening.

"You're just jealous because you don't have that adorable girl to hold now." The older brother teased.

"Shut up." He glowered, his fists clenching.

"Yeah, Itachi, he's so sad. Don't push him too far." The voice of reason leaned affectionately into the dark-haired hunk, cuddling into his side.

"Ugh. If you really don't have anything important to say, I need to get going." Sasuke turned to leave, but his brother's hand stopped him. "What?"

"How much?" He asked, eying the wrapped art.

"It's selling for twelve hundred, but I won't get anything if I'm any later."

"Twenty grand." His look-alike stated.

"What?" His eyes narrowed into slits.

"I'll pay you twenty thousand dollars for it." He smiled. "Think of it as... brotherly love, if you will."

"Daddy, it's really okay." It wasn't.

"Sweetie, I promise to make it up to you." With a freaking credit card.

"I know... Look, just... Just get home when you can." When it's too late.

"You know I will. Is there anything I can do for you even though I'm here?" Leave the hoe behind.

"Just stay safe, Daddy." Use a condom, don't give another reason to hold onto you.

"Alright, Cupcake. I love you." Then explain who you're with.

"Love you, too." Even when you're not here.

"Merry Christmas, Sakura."

"Merry Christmas, Daddy."

She hung up the phone and poured herself a steaming cup of coffee. Christmas Eve and her dad was stuck in an airport with his wifey. Snow had blocked the runway and there wouldn't be a flight for a day or two.

Everyone was out of town with family, it seemed. Ino went to California, Tenten was out in Virginia, Hinata over to Wisconsin... She was alone.

What about... No. He had hurt her and even though a week had passed, she wasn't going to forget the pain for quite some time.

She walked into her bathroom, lazily combing out the random knots that formed overnight. The mirror revealed a tired girl, one missing her daddy and barely-still boyfriend. She kept combing her hair with one hand and clutched her mug in the other as she plopped down onto the sofa.

Her thumb repeatedly pressed down on the remote button, the long search for a decent show resulting unfavorably. She sighed, finally giving up. Silence swallowed her whole as she sat in thought. A trip down memory lane was inevitable, she realized.

Her eyes locked onto the designer Christmas tree, red and silver ornaments placed in a very orderly manner on specific limbs. Light and generic, nothing personal about it. As she spaced out with her head leaning into the cool leather, she reminisced back on all the fun she had with Sasuke over the summer. The old Sasuke, that is.

The one that always had a witty comeback, a random adventure, a pervy comment. Something, anything. Anything at all that he knew would make her smile or laugh, usually both. She herself smiled just at the memory of them at the lake, him swimming in the nude while she was perched up in a tree. She wanted to go back, back to those few but cherished days.

A knock at the door caused her to jump and spill a little coffee onto the floor. A few drops stained her favorite slippers. She shuffled to the door and cracked it open. Naruto stood there with his trademark smile, brighter than the blond of his hair.

"Hey, Naruto." She stood to the side and let him in.

"Merry almost Christmas!" He greeted, graciously entering the majestic penthouse.

"What'cha doing here? It's Christmas Eve." She followed him back into her kitchen as he ever so rudely broke open the fridge and stole a V8.

"Well, Sasuke's bro is in town, so they're out with a Jewish family that they know for Chanukah. Used to be pretty close when he was little, so he couldn't turn them down." He chugged the juice down.

"He's Jewish?" She leaned against the counter.

"Yeah, Bar Mitzvah and everything. He speaks Hebrew, too." He crushed the can and looked around for a trash can.

"Under the sink. Recycle, please."

"So, where's your old man?" He asked, hopping up on the counter across from her.

"Vermont. Snow storm is delaying their flight." She quietly grumbled.

"Their?"

"His wife is with him. They aren't gonna be back for a day or so." She awkwardly shifted, not sure if telling him this was the best idea.

"So you're alone?' He questioned, not really at all affected by her misfortune.

"I guess. I'll live though, so whatever." She shrugged and walked toward her room.

"Sakura," Naruto laughed right behind her, "that's no way to celebrate the holidays!"

"So what?" She turned on her laptop as they both sat on her bed.

"Hey, why don't you come spend it with us! It'll be so cool to have you around." His eyes widened with excitement.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not in the mood for another pot fest." She grit her teeth and opened her email, though not expecting anything in particular.

"Itachi and Kiba are here. They said they wanted to see you, y'know." He smiled.

"Well, give them my regards then."

"Sakura..." He sighed, getting serious. "He's a screw-up, I know. Itachi found out about it and is giving him hell at the moment. You don't understand how happy you make him."

"Obviously the drugs are doing a better job since he chose them over me." Her voice faltered under her emotions.

"He's gonna quit smoking. That's his big gift to all of us for Christ- sorry, I mean _Chanukah._" He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. He hurt me, Naruto. Badly. That's not making it any better at all. He did this before, remember? Seriously! I'm sick of all this crap! I'm tired of his shit already! I just want the old Sasuke or no Sasuke at all!" She sobbed. "I've been covering for him with my dad for awhile now and if he ever finds out what he's done, his career is over! He doesn't understand how nice I've been or how generous! I haven't seen him in a week and it still hurts like hell! God! I'm so fucking sick of this!"

Naruto pulled the crying girl into his shoulder and let her calm down without a word. After a few minutes, she became quiet. "He misses you." He whispered.

"I miss him, too."

"I promised I'd be back by ten." He whispered as he picked at his food.

"Then get out." Itachi shrugged lightly.

"You're not very helpful." He growled.

"You're not very polite." The older man smirked.

"Sasuke, dear! Open your gift! Little Konohamaru picked it out." His aunt insisted.

"Why not. Let's see what the nudnick got me." Itachi elbowed him in the ribs. ("nudnick", annoying person)

"Hey! I'm not a nudnick!"

"I'm gonna smack that cute tuchis of yours unless you behave." His aunt warned. ("tuchis", tush)

"I'm just playing." He smirked charmingly.

He ripped the blue and silver wrapping paper open and smiled softly at the leather sketchbook. He opened it up and recognized the kid's scribble-like handwriting on the inside of the cover. He had been practicing his Hebrew, it seemed. Barely legible, but it was progress.

"Thanks, Kono. I appreciate it." He pulled the small brat into a hug before fluffing his hair.

"You're still a mean cousin, Sasuke." He pouted.

"Love you, too."

Then from Kiba, just to kill the moment, "Who's got the damned dreidel!?"

"It's nice here," She decided, "spacious." Her heels echoed against the high ceilings.

A menorah was lit on the mantle of the fireplace by the short Christmas tree. Lights were strung along the walls and blue and silver confetti shaped like Jewish stars and dreidels was sprinkled onto the coffee table. As Sakura walked around, she noticed a pile of gifts wrapped and tucked under the tree as well as stacked on the sofa. Her eyes didn't miss a certain tag with her name written on it, either.

His cellphone rang and Naruto quickly answered it. "Hey, how's it going?"

A silent pause as he listened. Sakura sat down in her glittery silver cocktail dress in the armchair across from the presents. "For real? Are you sure?"

There must have been at least fifteen boxes, she decided. "Alright, alright. As long as there's food, you know I'm in."

She looked up at Naruto, smart enough to realize he had just made plans. "See ya in a few, then." Plans for right now, apparently.

"Grab your coat get up, we're gonna go parrrtaay!" He cheered.

"Uh, where?' She asked suspiciously, though she still gathered her clutch and black suede jacket.

"You'll see." He responded cheekily.

"Naruto! My favorite schlemiel! It's been so long!" The plump woman at the door cried before wrapping the boy in a ferocious hug. ("schlemiel", Yiddish term for "dobe" haha.)

"H-Hey, Ester!" He choked out.

"Ah! And who is this pretty girl here? You're girlfriend?" She pried as she let them in.

"She's actually just a friend of Sasuke and me. This is Sakura. Sakura, meet Aunt Ester." Naruto introduced, adjusting his tie.

"Nice to meet you," Sakura greeted with a smile.

"Stop with this formal crap! We're all mischpacha here!" She pulled Sakura into a hug similar to the one Naruto received seconds ago. ("mischpaca", family) "Come, you must be hungry."

They entered the living room which was crowded with people of all shapes and sizes, many of whom were speaking in what Sakura assumed was Hebrew. One of those people was actually Sasuke.

"Attention, everyone! Two new guests have arrived!" Everyone reluctantly quieted down. That is, except the numerous kids who ran around until a few old women smacked the back of their heads so they'd zip it. "I'm sure some of you remember Naruto, Sasuke's friend. And this here is Sakura, another friend who we're meeting for the first time. Make them feel at home, it's Chanukah!" Those with glasses of wine and such raised them in acknowledgement. The others smiled warmly.

"Nice of you to join us, you two." Itachi smiled a little, a flirtatious sparkle in his eye.

"Naruto's idea." Sakura sighed, pointing at the blond.

"Very well, then. Happy Chanukah, have some latkes." He offered her a breaded patty that gave off a delicious fried aroma.

"What is it?" She asked, hesitantly picking up the slightly greasy food.

"Oh, a potato pancake. It's like a fat french fry, only better. Here," He brought over a plate with applesauce. "dip a piece in this. You'll love it."

She put her faith in him and gave it a try. As soon as it hit her tongue, she knew she wanted more. If she was in a room of this, she'd eat her way through it for sure.

"Sakura." Sasuke called. She turned to him, her mood spoiling.

"Sasuke." She formally responded.

"I'm glad you came with Naruto." He half-smiled.

"I didn't know we were coming here." She coldly told him.

"Oh," He faltered. She didn't know if she was happy or not to see him hurt.

"Sasuke, when are we bringing them over?" Naruto popped up, a mouth full of bagel and lox (smoked salmon that you eat with bagels).

"Whenever." He shrugged, not really caring.

"So tell me, dear. You Jewish?" A older woman with dark red hair -obviously dyed- asked Sakura.

"Uh, no." She smiled bashfully.

"Eh? This sheyne medel's a shiksa!? Bah, Sasuke! You will marry Jewish, Sasuke!" She wagged her finger wildly in Sasuke's face.

"Yes, yes." He sighed.

"Sasuke, what'd she call me?" Sakura asked with a worried tone.

"First she called you really pretty, then a non-Jewish girl. In a bad way, like a whore. Nothing serious, though."

"O-oh." She looked down to her shiny purple pumps. They were the same ones that she had on when she was flying home from Italy. It was like deja vu! This exact same thing happened on the plane when she bumped into Sasuke by the bathroom..!

"Come, before more old Jewish grandmas call you more crap." She allowed him to lace his fingers through hers and pull her into the kitchen.

Earlier, many people were in here preparing the feast. But now they were all mingling in the other room where the food was moved to.

"So... I take it you're Jewish?" She laughed.

"No way, I'm just in it for the eight cheap gifts of Chanukah and the loads of cash for my Bar Mitzvah." He leaned against the counter next to the stove.

"Sasuke!" She slapped his arm.

"I'm kidding!" He laughed.

The room quieted, except for the muffled noise and talk of the family out in the living room. Sakura stepped closer, her eyes glued to his black sweater vest and tie. "I can't believe you're wearing this," She giggled softly as she adjusted his tie and smoothed down the fabric over his chest. His eyes just followed hers intently, not a word spoken.

"It still looks good, though." She smiled, finally looking up at him. When she saw his emotionless expression, her smile faded into a look of concern. "What?"

His hand combed through her shoulder length hair, straightened completely. His other rested on her lower back, right on her tail bone. Slowly, he drew her forward as he bent down and she up. His lips reached hers, a firm kiss of compassion shared between them.

As they pulled apart, both still wore their serious faces. "Sasuke, we can't keep doing this." She whispered.

"Doing what?" His fingers ghosted down her arm, goosebumps raising after.

"I don't..I hate this whole drug thing, Sasuke. It's sick and annoying. Really, I don't think I can handle anymore of it." Her eyes were lined with tears.

"I know.. That's why I'm going to quit smoking. That, and I'll tell Gaara and the guys I've had enough, too."

"Really?" She asked.

"Really." She locked eyes with him, searching for any sign that he was lying. When she found none, her lip quivered lightly before she crashed her face into his chest.

She let out a shuddering breath, clutching him tightly. "Sakura," He smoothed down her glossy hair, "I love you."

She pulled back and looked up at him, wiping her eyes carefully. "You what?" She couldn't have heard him right. Or maybe she just wanted to hear it again.

"I said I love you." He repeated.

"Sasuke, I love you too." She kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck while his arms pulled her closer and caressed the side of her face.

"Those guys aren't idiots, so let's go before they start barging in demanding I have sex with a Jewish girl."

"Mario kart? Sweet!" Another kid celebrated before hugging Sasuke excitedly.

"I love PINK! These are so cute!" A tween girl squealed as she hugged the Victoria's Secret hoodie and flip flops.

"Wow, you went full-out, didn't you?" Sakura praised, combing her fingers through his lush hair from her comfy seat in his lap.

They were in the corner of his sofa watching the children find and rip open their Chanukah gifts from their now-favorite uncle/cousin Sasuke. Said Jewish Santa sipped at his white wine and kissed his love's forehead affectionately.

Naruto was racing toy cars with Konohamaru on their stomachs while Itachi and Kiba were nowhere in sight. The rest of the relatives unwrapped pieces of delectable gelt in their gold tin foil, letting the chocolate melt in their mouths.

"How long do you think everyone will be here?" Sakura asked, snuggling her head into the crook of his neck. When she inhaled, she was immediately intoxicated by his natural scent mixed with a light cologne.

"Not too much longer. When they start getting a little drunk," He dipped her fingers into his wine. "I'll start offering to call up the cabs and kick 'em out." His mouth engulfed her digits, sucking the alcohol off.

"Are you going to kick me out, too?" She asked with a suppressed giggle.

"Maybe, if you misbehave." His husky tone sent shivers down her spine.

"Don't use those cliché lines about being "naughty" now." She told him.

"But they're so much fun." He whined.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom. I'll be back." She got up and straightened her dress.

"And a Star Wars quote isn't corny, then?"

"Yes, 'cause I _live _to quote the movies I dream about."

She walked down the hall, careful to dodge the running kids along the way. When she opened the bathroom door, she yelped in astonishment and almost fell backwards. Itachi was laying on top of Kiba in the bath tub, heavily making out and ready to step it up.

When they noticed her there, they calmly got out and fixed their clothes before exiting the bathroom. "All yours," Kiba told her with a smile.

"Are you by any chance referring to the mental scarring?"

* * *

**Feel a tad more Jewish? You should. Reviews are awesome and can be served hot or cold. **

**Not the last chapter, okay? You can even scroll aaaallll the way up to read that this fic is still in progress. Oh yeah, check out my profile again. There's this poll I have up that only 18 people have voted on. Since this story is rounding the last turn, it's crucial that you vote! In your review, can you let me know if you're a guy? I don't think I have any penis-bearing readers, but I might as well check. See ya in '09. Peace, homez.**

**December 28th is the last day of the Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale!!!**

**-**

**-**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	12. ChickenNoodleSoup witha Drama onthe Side

**I kinda sorta mighta realized why everyone was so confused last chapter with the scene-switching crap.. Yeah, I guess my dividers didn't show up in the document.. Which sucks. But after I went back to read it over, I kinda like how confusing it is. ^^**

**Also, you have a chance to win a one-shot by the end of this chapter by reviewing. Simply read this chapter, my author's note at the bottom and you're solid. ...Pretty much.**

**OBAMA TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JANUARY 20TH!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!! YEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

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**Chicken Noodle Soup with a Drama on the Side**

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"Where the hell are you dragging me?" He reluctantly held her guiding hand as she lead him into a park, not a soul in sight. "Killing someone and leaving their body amongst some trees is such a cliché murder scene. Someone will definitely find my body."

"Don't be so dramatic." She told him, shaking her head. Soon enough, she stopped right where she was, satisfied with their location.

"So do tell, why are we out here at eight in the morning on a damn Sunday?" He inquired, his hair still standing at a comical angle from when he lifted himself out of bed...only to be kidnapped by his girlfriend. He had to admit, it _was _a bit kinky though.

"Alright, I'll tell you." She gave in, though a faintly excited smile refused to leave her features. "I wanted to make a snowman!"

"A snowman?" His voice flattened, unable to believe that was the soul reason for her early wakeup call.

"Yes! I used to do this all the time as a kid and it would be fun to do it again with you." She blushed, slightly embarrassed.

"Hn. I didn't even eat breakfast." He looked down at her, her expression a bit hurt. "But that'll have to wait, 'cause we're making a snowman." He rolled his eyes when she began to glow again with cheer.

Together, the patted together the first giant ball of snow. It was seriously the size of Sakura if she curled up into a ball herself. Halfway done with the second, a snowball fight broke out. Surprisingly enough, it was Sakura who had started it, too. She won, but only because Sasuke tripped on a tree root and fell on his face. But he didn't mind since Sakura was there to kiss it better.

By the time the faceless man of snow was standing tall and featureless, Sasuke climbed the closest tree and broke off a few weak branches. They gave the snowman some limbs and Sakura pushed in a set of rocky eyes and a rocky dotted curve for a mouth. Since they didn't have a carrot on them, a short and stubby stick would have to do for a nose. All in all, it was still a pretty decent snowman.

The sun was shining a little bit brighter now, Sasuke's watch reading half past ten. "How about we go back to my place and make some hot cocoa?" He offered.

"I'd love to." He offered his arm to her and she eagerly grabbed onto it as she cuddled into his arm.

"Drop your stuff where ever you want." He told her as he held the door open.

"M'kay." She sat down on the sofa and stared around her. The place was huge and felt a little weird with such little furniture placed in the middle. She walked over to the glass windows that made up the entire wall and looked out over the snowy city. Everyone was out and about, preparing for the new year that was just days away.

"Hey," He greeted warmly, standing right behind her. He rested his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her snuggly. He kissed her cheek before letting go. He laced their fingers together and took her into the kitchen.

Unlike the living room, it was warm and cozy. A bit wacky, due to the design and crazy colors, but whatever. On the counter sat two steaming mugs of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and -hey, is that..?- chocolate shavings. She smiled with a laugh before thanking him for the treat.

"...Broke my parol to have a good tiiimmee. When I got home, it was six a.m., the door was locked, so I kicked it in. She was trippin' on the piiilllsss, I think she was high on some piiillllsss. She threw my shit out into the yard, then she called me a bum and slapped me real hard-" Naruto had walked in, jamming to his ipod while carrying in a bag of groceries. "Perfect timing!" He cheered, placing the full bag on the counter.

"Making a pot?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura almost got whiplash when she looked at him in disbelief. He quickly realized what she heard and explained. "No, no. A pot of soup, Sakura. Sorry." He rubbed her back reassuringly.

"You have to have some! Please!!!" The blond begged.

"Well, I remember Sasuke mentioning how good your soup is a long time ago, so sure." Naruto grinned like the fool he was quickly unloaded the bag full of a wide array of vegetables and some chicken.

"Out, out! Come back in a few hours!" He ordered.

"Hours?" Soup couldn't take that long. Progresso soup took three minutes on the stove.

"He's making it from scratch, it takes awhile. But trust me when I say it's worth it." She followed him into his room and laid back on his bed. He propped up an easel and a painting almost finished to work on.

"When's the last time you met with my dad?" She asked, fiddling with the handmade necklace Sasuke gave her for Christ- _Chanukah._

"In person? I think a few weeks ago. I talked to him a few days ago." The chain was silver he had personally made by a friend who did that sort of thing for a living. It wasn't your usual chain, either. It was made of tiny hearts linked together.

"So today must be kinda important, then." The pendant was something Sasuke made. It was also a silver heart, only the size of a short thumb nail. The center was carved, welded, whatever. It was a blooming rose with the so much detail you'd have to stare at it for hours to take it all in. He had been working on it for what seemed like forever and now he had to work overtime to make up for the time he lost on it.

"Yeah, he wants a report on what I've completed, the time it took, short summaries of each, all that crap. That, and he's going to use this piece that I'm finishing now in an auction next week." He furrowed his eyebrows together in concentration as he focused on his art. He turned around and flicked on his ipod speakers. In Our Talons by the Bowerbirds flowed through the small room.

She pulled the book that she saw off his night stand, _The Audacity of Hope_. Barack Obama's book. She had already read it, but decided to start it again while she was there. Barely twenty minutes went by when Sasuke declared his art complete.

"Let me get this meeting over with so I can come back and we can eat." He left the painting where it was, first excusing himself to 'take a leak', as he so politely put it.

When he had locked himself in the bathroom, Sakura quickly scrambled over to see what it was he had finished. She gasped when she saw it. There was a beautiful Asian girl draped loosely in a dull grey and brown robe. Her shoulder was exposed and she was sitting before a large mirror, her lips attracting the most attention being bright red. Her forehead almost leaned against the glass as she stared longingly at her reflection which was stamped with her kiss mark in that insane red. As usual, the emotions jumped out of the art. The expression and story behind it were almost too real even without words.

"Like it?" She jumped a little when he spoke up.

"Must you sneak up on me all the time?"

"If you keep reacting like that, of course." He smirked.

"Let's go, wannabe ninja."

"So where does your dad think you are?" He asked as they walked down the hall.

"Shopping at Nordstrom." She told him cheekily.

"You're so sneaky. Too bad you don't use those skills to get into my pants." He seductively sighed in a cheesy way.

"You're so full of yourself." She sighed, plenty used to his suggestive lines. Still, she couldn't hold back the loyal blush.

"I bet I could fill you up, too." Bullseye.

"SASUKE!" She swatted his arm, beet red. He laughed and swung her into his arms.

"Put me down, you perv!" He grabbed her wrist in his mouth and immaturely blew a farting noise onto it.

When they reached the elevator, he put her down. Her hands locked behind his neck and he kissed her silently on the lips. She smiled back at him, so happy to be with him. The smile was contagious and he couldn't help but kiss her again.

"I'll be back soon. Keep the idiot company, just don't screw with his soup, please."

"I'll try to contain myself." He winked and backed into the elevator. The doors closed and he saluted her before she was blocked from his view by the shiny metal.

A serial killer, a Nazi, a zombie, a zombie bunny even. Maybe a serial killing Nazi bunny zombie would've been more pleasant to have been greeted by when those doors opened downstairs. Anything, he decided right away. Anything would've been more pleasant than Mr. Haruno himself standing there with his arms folded across his chest, suit sharp and dangerous.

"Back in the elevator, Mr. Uchiha."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"So where'd you learn to cook so well?" She asked, perched on an orange and blue stool next to the stove.

"Well, from all over. Sasuke's horrible at cooking, but when he'd stay with different families for the night, they'd feed him. If he really liked what they made, he'd ask for the recipe and give it to me." He sliced and diced a third potato, dropping the pieces into the small pot.

"So where'd you learn this recipe?" She nibbled on some apple slices he prepared for her.

"I made it myself! It's so long though, so I only make it once every month or so." He shrugged.

"I guess you never have leftovers if it's as good as you make it out to be." She laughed.

"Are you kidding me?" He opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a gigantic pot big enough for a kid to sit in. Sakura almost choked on her apple chunk.

"That's...That's what you're using for the soup?" She whispered.

"We invite a few of the people who we recently met or owe over for dinner. It's really fun and we always have a few days' worth left after to eat." Sakura was left speechless.

The door unlocked loudly, drawing their attention. When it opened even louder, it was followed by two sets of feet. Naruto cautiously walked out to see who it was and froze in his path when he saw Sasuke accompanied by Sakura's dad. Neither of the two looked happy.

"Naruto, who's-" Sakura looked like a deer in the headlights at that moment behind Naruto.

"What are you doing here, Sakura?" Her dad asked with a barely restrained voice.

"Ah, uh, N-Naruto invited me over f-for lunch, Daddy." She nervously told him.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" He yelled, everyone flinched. His voice echoed off the tall ceilings painfully.

"I'm not!" She quietly responded.

"Very well, then. Sasuke, you're fired. Let's go, Sakura." He gestured to the door, having a hard time keeping his cool again.

"What? No! Dad, you can't fire him!"

He stormed over to her and gripped her by the arm a little too hard. "Do you have _any _idea at all what kind of press this little fling of yours has generated for me?" He hissed.

"Let go of her." Sasuke spoke up.

"You have nothing to say!" He shot back. "Deceiving me this entire time! You lost me thousands of dollars in a matter of hours!" He let go of Sakura and turned to the Uchiha fully before he continued.

"It's not much of a surprise when people find out that a lot of artists deal with drugs, that much I'm well aware of. But it _is _a surprise when a student at such a school that you're attending now is known for such things, too. I'm sure quite a few kids there are into that crap, but they do it in secrecy, not publicly! I am one of the roots of that school's budget!" He glared harshly at him.

"You getting you're picture taken by multiple photographers smoking a few joints is not good press for the school or my business! You were representing me! Not only that, but kissing my daughter! Jesus!" He paced back and forth, blowing off steam. He wasn't done.

"So now, I'm faced with multiple investors thinking I hired my daughter's boyfriend for personal reasons who is also a drug addict _and _not only has soiled my name but the school I am sponsoring!" Another round of echoes struck them all.

"Fortunately, I found the photographers and the companies they work for and paid them off a fortune so they'd hold back those pictures. I hope you're happy."

"I'm not!" Sakura cried out, even though he wasn't necessarily talking to her.

"You shouldn't be." He answered, slightly taken back by her outburst.

"I hate how you prioritize your work over me. I hate how you prioritize your wife over me! I hate... I hate how... God, I hate how you aren't even seeing how good Sasuke is! He quit the drugs, those are old photographs! He let me come over for the holidays, you know. And since you're going out to a party for New Year's, I was going to spend that with him, too. Don't judge others before judging yourself!" She cried.

Sasuke quickly was at her side and bound her in his arms. She sobbed into his jacket, the same Volcom jacket he wore the first time he picked her up from her place on their way to school, he remembered.

Mr. Haruno shook himself out of his stupor and Sasuke let go of her as he pulled her to himself. She continued crying in her dad's arms as he apologized repeatedly.

"Please, please, please.." She begged.

"What, baby?" He asked.

"Please don't fire Sasuke. He needs this so much." She sniffled desperately.

He looked up at the boy in question. He had a lot to make up to his daughter, he realized. Possibly ruining her boyfriend's career wasn't going to make it any easier. "Alright, then."

Sasuke quietly untensed. While the two shared a father-daughter moment, he looked around for Naruto, who hadn't said a word the entire time. From the smell of things, he knew he had retreated back into the kitchen to continue cooking.

"Let's go, then. The sooner we get this meeting over with, the sooner you can come back and eat." The older man smiled. Sasuke and Sakura smiled back. Hadn't those been almost the exact same words Sasuke had told her earlier?

"It'll be ready by three! You should come back as well and have some, Mr. Haruno!" Naruto shouted from the kitchen.

"Very well, then."

The three took a cab, Mr. Haruno strategically sitting in the middle to separate the two. They might've been on good terms, but he was still a father. It was about time he got his priorities straight.

* * *

**First person to tell me what song Naruto was singing when he came in with the groceries gets a one-shot!!! Review if you looooovvvveeee meeeeeeeeeeee....**

**OH! AND!!!! I still need more votes on my poll!!! RUUUUNNNNN!!!!! (To the poll, please.)**

**-**

**-**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	13. Inflating the Balloon

**I realized how long I had been gone (for me, that's a long time), so I felt guilty and whipped this up. I'm really busy trying to pull my math grade back up, sooo... the computer and fanfiction aren't really on the top of my list at the moment...**

**The announced one-shot winner is posted belowww....**

* * *

**Inflating the Balloon**

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- & -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"The color scheme in this one will definitely fit in with the Scolded collection." He circled the name corresponding with the image that was to his liking. "The exhibition is in two weeks, so you need to bring it in right away."

Sasuke scribbled down the date and name of the collage his boss picked. "Do you have any potential buyers yet for the metal whale sculpture?" He looked up expectantly.

"One maybe. It's not official yet. I'm still trying to polish your name." He glared at the artist, obviously settling to hold the grudge in his pocket for a good amount of time.

"Yeah..." He looked down again and doodled a cloud distractedly.

"So that's all for now. I'm expected at a meeting in a half hour, so I need to get going." He got up first with straightened shoulders as he tugged proudly at his Armani suit.

"Then I won't keep you any longer. Thanks again." Sasuke got up and held his hand out to his superior.

Mr. Haruno grabbed it with a notably strong grip. "Try _anything_ I wouldn't like with my little girl and you'll be looking for a cardboard box in a back alley to hide in."

He winced minutely but nodded. "Understood." The death grip was released.

"I'll be seeing you at four o'clock, then." He reminded Sasuke as he walked him to the door.

"I will? Oh, right. The soup. Yeah, four." He smirked and waved at him as he left the penthouse.

Once the door closed, he sighed as he glanced over into the living room.

"You can stop hiding, Sakura." He called out as he walked toward his home office.

"Tch," She crawled out from behind the sofa. "You didn't scare him, you know."

"Well, I certainly gave his hand a small cramp. I'm going to call into the conference call and then go meet someone for an almost settled deal. I want you to stay here until I come back. No more sneaking around with Sasuke. He may be my employee, but you're still my daughter."

"Yes, Daddy." She rolled her eyes as she leaned back against the wall.

He wrinkled his nose at her in an attempt to make a comeback against her eye roll. When she stifled a laugh, he stormed into his office before his ego sunk any lower. He had an image to uphold, you know.

Sakura slumped on the sofa and flipped to one of her favorite shows: That 70's Show. Hyde always made her smile with his curly fro and wicked shades. After watching a few episodes, she went to her room to at least get some of her winter break homework out of the way. She _did _have some time to kill, thanks to Father Dearest.

Finally when she finished her math review sheets, her dad came in. "I'm gonna go now. No visitors while I'm gone. Like I said, I'll be back later to pick you up, okay?"

She nodded, shuffling all her papers together. He kissed the top of her head before leaving. "See you in a bit."

When the door closed and clicked, she walked around the living room. What was she going to do for the next hour or so? As if answering her very mind, the door clicked again and closed.

"Dad?" She called, cautiously looking over to the door.

No response.

She immediately realized someone had just broken into her home and scurried to the kitchen to grab a kitchen knife. "Who's there?" She demanded, approaching the door from around the corner.

Again, silence.

"Answer me!" Her voice shook.

"I like it when you're so fiesty." She swung around, knife and all. "Whoa,"

"SASUKE! FUCK!" She yelled.

"Sorry, I didn't think you'd be wielding a weapon." He closed the large gap between them and unlatched the knife from her fingers.

"Don't do that, I was scared." She whispered, genuine fear in the back of her throat. That, and her heart.

"I really am sorry." He threw the knife with perfect aim into the sink and looped his arms around her.

"How'd you get passed my dad?" She asked as he kissed her neck.

"I hid down the hall." He kissed her cheek.

"Nice." She leaned her forehead onto his shoulder.

"So now that we're alone with time to waste, what's on the agenda?" He laced their fingers together and held them against her head.

"Well, I need to finish my chemistry homework..." She sighed. He was definitely going to make a joke about the "chemistry" between them, it would be too hard to resist. All kidding aside, she knew she still had to finish it.

"Okay." He pulled her to her room.

"No jokes?" She asked, completely astonished.

He pushed her onto the bed and smirked, positioned on top of her."Not when I can skip straight into the main act."

He leaned down and connected their mouths with need. Her hands pressed against the sides of his ribcage as one of his hands became buried in her hair and the other on her side. She felt herself melt into him, her blood beginning to heat up. His tongue expertly slid against hers, stretching her limits.

He smirked when she didn't stop his hand crawling under the hem of her shirt and enjoyed the delicate skin beneath his touch for the first time. He felt her tense, but showed no significant signs of wanting to stop. Being in a mood far from hesitant, he continued trailing his fingers higher. Higher, all the way to the band of her bra.

At this point, she half-willingly grabbed his arms to stop him. He slowly, oh so slowly leaned back. "And we got so far," He whispered. "but then again, not even close."

"Sasuke, you know how I feel..." She propped herself up on her elbows.

"Yeah, I know.." He kissed her softly. "But that won't stop me from getting horny."

She looked away as her cheeks reddened.

"Shit," He muttered.

She looked up at him to see him getting a little pink, too. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I _did _say I was getting a little worked up." He awkwardly shifted off of her and her eyes locked onto the slight rise in the zipper of his jeans.

"Oh, God.." She hid her face in her hands. "I really don't know what to say!"

"I could think of a few things, but you... Nevermind." Flustered by the images he just created in his own mind, he stalked out to the bathroom in a hurry.

She tried to distract herself and opened her chemistry book that had been abandoned on the floor at some point. Why'd she stop? Would it have been so bad to have kept going? If the balloon is forty liters at 450 kPa, what is the pressure of the balloon when it's seventeen liters?

She was so confused.

* * *

**By the way, you guys are soooo into the unoriginal crap. My poll results are pretty sad lmao. If you haven't voted, please do. The numbers are pretty close, so some extra votes would be cool. And the one-shot winner is....**

**..! **

**The song was the Bartender Song by Rehab.**

**Congrats, your one-shot will be done soon enough. Next chapter there will be another chance to win a one-shot, guys!**

**-**

**-**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	14. I Can't Balance the Equation

**So I finished making a check list of how and what I want in this story so I can conclude it properly. I think this'll be one of my better story endings. No, this is not the last chapter. **

**That is getting closer, though.**

* * *

**I Can't Balance the Equation.**

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- & -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Dude, you get turned on too easily. And people call you smooth," He snorted as he poured the last few bowls almost to the brim.

"Hn." His dark eyes narrowed at the ground in embarrassment as he carried the bowls that were ready out to their guests.

One for his beautiful girlfriend, another for her selfish father, a bowl for the guy from the front desk, his brother, his brother's boy toy, himself and of course Naruto. Idiot. He wasn't carrying all those bowls at once, but in a few trips the two hosts finally were able to take their seats at the table. They didn't have a long dining table, so they borrowed a folding one from a neighbor down a few floors.

"So dig in, guys! Tell me what you think!" Naruto insisted. The dinner guests all eagerly plunged their spoons and sipped at the hearty contents.

"Delicious, Naruto." Itachi praised the blond.

"Mmm, super good!" Sakura chimed as she twined her finger with Sasuke's under the table.

"Remind me to take some of the leftovers after." The gangly building employee laughed, his mouth full.

"Sure thing." Naruto smiled, delighted with the feedback. Get it? Feed? Haha. I have no life...

"Tell me, Itachi. How much longer do you plan on staying here in New York?" Mr. Haruno asked.

"Another week or so maybe. But no matter how long we plan on staying, Kiba and I need to get back before Febuary." He quietly dabbed the corners of his mouth with his napkin while Kiba slurped noisily at his bowl.

"Aw, you guys have plans? Valentine's Day stuff?" Sakura smiled.

"Well, not exactly," Itachi started.

"We teach yoga classes on the beach and right now, we have replacements teaching the courses. But sessions lead by us specifically are more expensive. Tons of couples like the idea of romantic and intimate yoga on the beach at sundown and sunrise. We're booked almost the entire month straight!" Kiba cheered.

"Yoga? Well, I might have to call you over very soon. My wife loves yoga."

"Sure thing. Anything for Sakura's dad." Itachi winked at the girl. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Any interesting lobby gossip, Herald?" Naruto asked.

"Funny you ask, just yesterday the oddest thing happened. It was the middle of the day and I was listening to some more reports about that contaminated peanut product news when I heard shouting outside. No one was coming in, so I decided to check it out. There across the street was a cop with a megaphone and lady next to him, trying to coax a man from jumping off of a building! The lady was crying, pleading, and a crowd was forming. These other guys, firefighters, were around them too. But here's the crazy part: he was only two feet off the sidewalk! A stupid ledge! And this cop and whoever else in uniform was taking it seriously! After having this totally deep conversation about how everyone screws up every once in a while and it's no reason to commit suicide, the dude decided to come down. The firefighters got closer with a sheet spread like a parachute and count for him to jump. When he did, the lady ran to hug him and the crowd cheered awkwardly. Then they all just walked away! Weird as hell!"

"I think I know who you're talking about. There's this organization called Improv Everywhere. They're here in New York and secretively plan these odd skits or whatever all over randomly. It's to entertain the public and it's really fun. They're the guys that plan that annual No Pants subway ride. I'd love to get in on that stuff." Sasuke explained.

"They're on YouTube, too. I spent a couple hours on it just watching all the crazy shit they did. They even did one in Russia! It's so funny!" Naruto laughed.

"I can see it now, my little brother walking around without any pants in public shamelessly. I'm sure if the both of us did it together, every girl on the street would faint with a nose bleed." Itachi proclaimed in a snooty tone.

"Damn straight." Sasuke replied with a chuckle.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Byeee! Enjoy the leftovers!" Naruto called down the hall as their last guest, Herald, made his way to the elevator. He closed the door went to help Sasuke clean up the kitchen.

The Uchiha had his ipod playing some old school music on the speakers. "Standing on the front stoop, hangin' out the window. Watching all the cars go by, roaring as the breezes blow. Crazy lady livin' in a bag. Eatin' out of garbage pails, she used to be a fag-hag. Said she danced the tango, skipped the light fandango." They both sang along.

"School starts Monday." Sasuke reminded him randomly, halting his rap.

"At least I'll see Hinata. She gets in tomorrow afternoon." He started washing the stack of bowls.

"Does it bother you that she won't have sex with you?" The pale teen asked the tanner of the two.

"The bill collectors they ring my phone. And scare my wife when I'm not home. Got a bum education, double-digit inflation. Can't take the train to the job, there's a strike at the station," Naruto kept rapping with the music. "Not really. I mean, if she called and said we could if I got there in two minutes, I'd be there in a minute thirty seconds flat."

"Hn." He wiped down the counter, splotches of dried broth here and there.

"What's up with you and Sakura?"

"The same as before dinner when I told you. I don't wanna get my hopes up, but if I'm careful, we might get a lot farther than just the bottom of her bra."

"Well, just don't get carried away. I know that's the only reason you used to get with chicks, but Sakura's different. Don't forget why you originally started dating her." Naruto reminded him wisely.

"Since when did you become so mature?" Sasuke teased.

"Someone's gotta know what they're doing around here." Naruto laughed.

"I know what I'm doing. I just don't really know when to stop."

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

Seven, three, zero, six. She brought the phone to her ear as she began stuffing her books into her bag. Binder, pencil case, English report, raspberry gum, all set for the morning.

"Hey, how was the trip?" Sakura greeted into the phone when she heard it pick up.

"Pretty fantastic in a million ways. You? How was your break?" Tenten answered.

"Well, my dad found out about Sasuke and me." She whispered.

"Ah. Epic ending?"

"Pretty much. It's definitely gonna take a good portion of lunch to discuss, if it can even wait that long."

"I see. I'll be sure to make flyers."

"Call all your friends and relatives, too."

"Reservations only."

"Give away a few seats on the radio as well, please."

"Done deal. I still have to get settled in and packed for tomorrow, so I'll see you at school in the morning."

"Cool. See ya." They hung up just as Sakura was ready to zip up her tote bag.

She looked down at her phone to see a little envelope in the corner of the screen. She had gotten a text while she was talking to Tenten, it seemed. Brng th lftovrs fr lnch 2moro, it read. Obviously from Naruto. He was a little _too _proud of that soup, even though it was amazing.

-- . -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Gah! Hot! Hot!" He yelled, surely not missing out on the opportunity to throw around a few profanities.

"Why yes, Naruto. That would be hot chocolate. HOT. CHOCOLATE." Tenten was nice enough to break it down for him. What a darling girl.

With a mild pout, the blond decided to ignore her. "Here, Hinata. You can have the rest." He handed her the full cup.

"Are you sure?" His girlfriend asked hesitantly.

"Of course!" He laughed.

"Thank you." She smiled.

"Anything for you, Hinata." He pulled her into his chest, almost spilling the steaming liquid.

"Watch it, Naruto." Neji warned as Naruto started to kiss the younger Hyuga.

"Like you're one to speak! Everyone was watching your little tongue wrestling match you had with Tenten by the gate earlier!" With that, the long haired boy shut up.

"Hey, guys!" Sakura appeared, her fingers locked with Sasuke's.

"Hey," They greeted back.

"Ino, I still have your grey sweater in my room." She reminded the blond girl as she was walking by to hang with the soccer team.

"Oh, right! I'll just get it after school, I guess. That cool?" She obviously was eager to see a certain player judging by the swift glances her eyes were making at the crowd by the water fountains.

"Yeah. Go, they obviously plan on leaving in a millisecond." Ino just pretended to laugh sarcastically and play punched her friend before walking away.

"We have about ten minutes before the bell, come." Sasuke told her.

"Where?" She asked with false innocence.

"Does it really matter?" He raised an eyebrow playfully.

"Only if you say so," She sighed and waved at her other friends before Sasuke pulled her toward the tennis courts. No one was behind the screened fences, so the secluded strip of grass between them and the hedges gave the two a cozy hiding spot.

He smiled coyly before placing his hand to her cheek, his lips taking a hold on her own. His dizzy-making kisses were making it hard to stay standing and he felt her starting to melt. He gently pushed her against the fence and held her in place by weighting himself against her.

She felt him scoop her waist toward him when his arm squeezed around her from the side. Her own hands had gripped at his shirt and lost themselves in his hair. Soon his kisses moved to her cheek and then to her neck.

"Sasuke," She breathed, "no hickeys." He groaned lazily and kissed her neck.

"Must you kill my fun?" He teased, though judging by her expression she failed to see the humor in the comment.

"I'm kidding, Sakura. Hey, come on, don't give me that face. I'll walk you to class." She rolled her eyes but still hooked her arm through his. She wondered if this was how Sasuke had been in Italy and if so, how her mind was able to warp his behavior into a tolerable state.

. -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"This is quite an interesting piece here," The middle-aged man in a dress shirt and nice slacks commented.

"Wait until you hear the story behind it. I'm sure you'll have a stronger adjective to describe it then." The artist chuckled.

"Really? Well I guess I must ask that you explain yourself." The gentleman smiled expectantly but with an air of knowing more than he let on.

Ten minutes later the man had shaken hands with the young artist and handed him his card. He headed off to mingle with fellow viewers and left the teen to glide around the room about possible appreciators. His boss in his sharp suit and striking confidence waved him over.

"How's it looking?" He asked the older man.

"I'd say pretty damn good. Not only is the art inviting and unique, I've been hearing you've been nothing but a charmer." Sasuke supposed it was nice to hear this but couldn't help but feel like a dog or an orphan sent to the streets to collect money.

"Yeah. I'm gonna grab some cheese." He stalked off to the small table of fancy unnameable foods and grabbed a few cheese cubes. He was feeling a little daring so he picked up what looked to be a cucumber slice thing and took a bite.

Alright, it definitely was not a cucumber thing. More like a jalapeño shock wave, but who was he to judge? Just the artist on display, he concluded. He checked his phone and huffed at the time. Barely eight and this event would be over around ten. Fantastic.

"Sasuke, dear! It's been a while, I see. You know, I'm a bit surprised you didn't hire a Playboy model for a portait." The woman laughed.

"Nice to see you, too. What brings you here, Anko?" He was glad to see a half-familiar face around.

"Eh, free food. The usual." She shrugged. He knew she was only kidding, though. ...She was, right?

"Of course. So seriously, I thought you were down in Miami these days."

"Actually, I moved to Los Angeles. I'm here for some quick job. A small airline wants some help with billboard ideas." She nodded in acknowledgment at some guy close by. Sasuke wasn't sure if she actually knew him or was getting a head start on her flirting.

"So you've been busy. Good to hear." He smirked.

"And you? On the subject of busyness, how's your love life out here? Still using sex as a stress reliever?" She twinkled her fingers for an added corny effect.

"I'm seeing someone now. She's a really good girl." Sasuke proudly stated.

"So it's true, then. You're bangin' your boss's daughter, huh?" She cocked out a hip, obviously amused.

"We met in Italy last summer. I had no idea who she was related to then or when I was offered the job. Pure luck, I believe." He raised his chin, challenging her to say otherwise. Of course she would.

"When are you leaving her?" She asked, her mouth stuffed with a meat...something.

"I'm not." A crumb spotted her bare lips. He had an urge to painfully flick it.

"Sure. She can't be that good in bed." She laughed.

He sighed, "I wouldn't know." Her laughing came to a complete end immediately.

. -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Wow, so she freaked that bad, huh?" He scrubbed down the crusty splat on the counter, narrowing his eyes when it continued to cling obstinately.

"Then she started asking why not, if she had a disease, if she was raped, if I tried..." He weighed his forehead into the heel of his hand with an inert air.

"Tried to rape her?" His friend asked incredulously.

"No, idiot. If I tried to have sex with her." He twirled a salt shaker around and then busied his hand with a fork.

"What'd you say?"

. -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"Thank you for projecting our conversation into the crowd. I'm sure they all are very closely knit family of hers and are on a need-to-know basis." He avoided eye contact with the number of people who heard Anko's questions.

"Well? Did you?" She ignored his snarky comment. She had always been like that, too. Always wielding that damn reflective shield of hers.

"No shit, I didn't. She just stops me every damn time!" He boiled at his recollection of attempts that all ended the same way. Failure.

"You mean to tell me your seducing skills have finally failed you?" She gawked at him with false astonishment, though truly it was a baffling concept.

"I never used my 'seducing skills' on her." He breathed out. This conversation was a bit degrading and somehow draining.

"You just don't want to admit that you're not as delicious as you used to be." She grinned.

"Delicious?" He squinted with a strained expression. Anko referring to him in such a way caused his insides to squirm.

"Avoiding the question, Uchiha? I knew it. You've lost your touch! Ha!" She grabbed a dumpling off of a tray as a server walked past them.

"I'm not lying. I really wasn't trying that way. I want her to actually want to do it when it happens."

"If, you mean. No one said she would ever and by the looks of it, your chances are being numbered." She was no longer joking and her words hazed the air. He felt as if he opened a bucket of fortune cookies only to have them all read the same haunting future of suffering.

"I really love her." He confessed.

"So? She can love you even more. That doesn't change the fact that she just might not want to give up her cherry just yet. It's not always about you, kid."

. -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"I remember when I first met that psycho. She was teasing Itachi's hair out into a serious 'fro with flowers." Naruto threw the rag carelessly into the kitchen. It was just the two of them at the counter, a couple hours after closing. "If she was taking you seriously, I hope you took note. I've only had one serious conversation with her and it was about my mom."

Sasuke spun around on the squeaky seat and propped his elbows up on the counter. "Am I being to pushy about this?"

"Hell yeah you are. I only asked Hinata once and that was because I was honestly clueless. You keep trying to persuade her and hope if you try enough she'll eventually crack from the pressure." He finished drying down the counter with a fresh cloth.

"I feel kind of bad," He groaned. Why was this such a big mess?

"Good. Maybe you're starting to grow a conscience." He contently smirked, pleased by his comeback. "Oh hey, so you're thinking about what that guy talked to you about?"

"I dunno. Possibly." He shrugged it off, obviously not wanting much to discuss it. "Have any plans with Hinata soon?"

"Duh. She invited me over to meet her 'rents." He proudly informed.

"When?"

"Next month."

"..."

"They're busy people, okay?"

. -- . -- . -- . -- . -- . --

"-and don't wear the brown headband, I got my hair stuck in it last week. I almost just brought scissors up to it to cut it out."

"Chill, Ino. I think I know what I'm doing. Besides, I already picked out what I'm wearing." Tenten smiled excitedly.

"For reals? Wow, two weeks in advance. That's amazing, Tenten. I've barely seen you think about your outfits ten minutes even before you get dressed." This earned the blond a light smack to the arm.

"I think it's going to be really special. Hinata's bringing Naruto, too. So if anything, they'll hammer him with questions and whatever else since he's the guy." She set up another chemical equation for Ino. "Solve this one. Actually, tell me what kind it is first."

"This is so tenth grade! Can we move on already?" She whined.

"For Sakura and me it was actually from ninth grade. You would be saying the same thing too if you hadn't been so busy studying male hormonal reactions in eighth grade instead of biology." The junior shut up and tightened her jaw. "You aren't strong in chemical equations so we need to make sure you have a good foundation here before we move on."

"Fine..." She stared down at the equation and tightened her lips in concentration. "It has that carbon and hydrogen thing plus oxygen...and turns into carbon dioxide and water... So I guess it's a combustion formula, right?"

"Yep. Now kind of fuel is it? It's chemical formula is C4H10." Tenten explained.

"Put your hands up, put your hands up!" Ino mouthed as her techno ring tone interrupted their tutoring session.

"Oh god..." Tenten laid her head down as the girl in front of her answered the call.

"Yeah, she's right here. Hold on," She handed the iphone to the unsuspecting senior.

"Uh, hey?" She answered confusedly.

"What use is a phone if it's off all the time?" A stoic voice questioned her.

"Ah. You. I'm tutoring the princess here, you know. It's kind of rude for you to interrupt our session." He could feel her cat-like smile through the phone.

"I see. Well, I guess you'll have to call me when you go to bed. I'll have a few things to tell you about then." Tenten blushed a deep red before squeaking out a 'bye' and hanging up.

"Butane!"

* * *

**Another corner passed by in the story. We're reaching the stairs and going toward that door to the conclusion. So close, almost in view. Ready for it? Guess the two songs mentioned as well as who plays it to win a one-shot. First right answer wins. You have one try. **

**Oh, btw, Slumdog Millionaire was ssoooooo amazing! If you haven't seen it, I advise you do so asap. I really fell in love with it. I think Milk stopped playing, but I hope to see it somehow soon. Hmm.**

**-**

**-**

**happy unbirthday**

**--frumpyrox**


	15. Guess Who's Back!

Hey, everyone! How long has it been since you all have seen me here!?

Well, I'm heading off to college soon and let me tell you...I'm nearly shitting myself.

I want to thank each and every one of you that have followed me here on FF and read my stories. In fact, I have a small surprise for you.

Coming soon, I'll be publishing my newest and possibly last story on the site. So please, put me on Author Alert if I'm not already on your list! It'll be worth it c:

Hope to hear from you all soon!

Happy Unbirthday

-Frumpyrox


	16. New Story, but of a different kind

So yes, hi.

I'm retired from this site as an author, but I'm picking up on blogging.

I've decided to not pursue (like a million others) a cooking blog, but instead something closer to my heart...and vagina.

My first year of college started with my breaking up with my high school sweetheart of four years who does in fact attend the same college as me in New York City, but hey, that's life.

And life nowadays (at least for me as a college kid) includes a little too much freedom, men, greasy expensive food, whiskey and lots of sex. With lots of people. I admit to it! I embrace it! And now, I'm going to blog about it.

Why? Because hardly any of goes as planned, is romantic, or something my mother would be proud of.

I'm learning who I am along the way, what my value system consists of and what I really judge a person's character on instead of just what Disney taught me to (because...Disney teaches you this..?). Anyway, please check it out, subscribe, stalk, comment, share.

It's gonna get real, really quickly because let's face it, I love talking about this shit and everyone loves reading about it. Grab a chair, sneak a sip from the rum bottle (you naughty, youth, you) and read on.

ihopeidontregretthis .wordpress . c o m nooooo spaces!

Stories will include:

-One-night stands that I didn't know would be one-night stands

-Older Man Encounter

-Vomiting

-Dollar Pizza

-Walks of Shame

-Drinks that make guys hot

-Guys jacking off on the train at 2am

-Me openly embarrassing myself countless ways in the worst of ways..

-you know, sex.

-awkward sex.

-really good sex.

-does that even count as sex? sex

I love you all. My fanfiction days are long gone, but my writing definitely is back and just as awful as before. Awful, as in, you know, full of junk you wanna read.

Let me know how you feel about all this, guys. I really wanna get back in touch with all of you. I miss this community C':


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